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Warning: A few LONG summaries ahead!

SEASON SIX EPISODES

"The Beginning", "Drive", "Triangle", "Dreamland", "Dreamland 2", "How The Ghosts Stole Christmas", "Terms Of Endearment", "Rain King", "S.R. 819", "Tithonus", "Two Fathers", "One Son", "Agua Mala", "Monday", "Arcadia", "Alpha", "Trevor", "Milagro", "The Unnatural", "Three Of A Kind", "Field Trip", "Biogenesis"

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6.01 The Beginning

US Airdate: November 8, 1998

writer: Chris Carter

director: Kim Manners

After a quick update through scenes from both The End and The Movie, we're hit by a blinding shot of the sun. Put on your shades, baby, we've arrived in California (masquerading as Phoenix, Arizona). The camera pans down to the desert as two men run towards a white van marked as "Roush Technologies". I remember them, weren't they the bad guys way back in Redux 2? Haven't heard a peep about them since, might we finally get some answers? Not from these geeks, they're just ... ahem, taking care of business miles from any gas station washrooms. As they enter the van, a fellow car pool member calls one a dipwad and he retaliates with the universal one-finger salute. We must be in America, Canadians are too damn polite to use that gesture ;-) They drive off and soon another passenger, Sandy, starts to sweat and shiver in the sweltering heat (no jackets on anyone in the car, do they even bother selling them in Arizona?). He's told to hold it 'till he gets home which he does, thankfully. The van drops him off and as soon as he enters his house, still shivering, he cranks up the heat from 60 to 80 then the readout simply says "HI". Sandy sits on his couch, the sunlight blasting in from a window behind him, his body shaking uncontrollably. He begins to moan softly, then raises his hand ... his alien hand covered with translucent skin, that is! Ewwww! A newspaper lands on Sandy's lawn signalling the beginning of a new day. The car pool van pulls up in front of his house and sounds out two short blasts of the horn. Barely a second later (sheesh, barely gives a guy a chance to pull on his shoes), the recipient of the one-finger salute earlier jumps out of the van and knocks on the door. As he does, the camera pans over Sandy's picture collection inside the house. Pretty lonely guy, they're all of him in his lovely lab coat. The man opens the door, calling for Sandy to hurry up and starts to loosen his tie as the house is so hot. He looks at the thermostat which still reads "HI" and continues calling and looking for Sandy. He spots the top of his head over the back of the couch, moves around to the front and his mouth drops open in shock. Not much left of Sandy, his chest cavity is completely gone and there's blood everywhere. He backs away to leave and hears a high-pitched noise which makes him spin around to face something. We cut to the van as his associates read newspapers and check their watches then back inside as something crashes through glass and leaps for the man. Munching noises from inside the living-room, then the man begins to stagger for the door, his shirt drenched in blood. He grabs for the handle but it slips through his blood-soaked fingers. With one final attempt, he reaches for the doorknob then is dragged away as we hear his screams. They're heeeeere! Next we see Mulder sitting in front of a fancy-shmancy computer. He's gently and carefully putting together a puzzle consisting of pieces of burnt paper with the help of a magnifier and the computer screen. We can barely make out the words, "X-FILES: INVESTIGATION" and the number 111470 just below it. Aha! The files from the burned office are rising like Phoenix from the ashes. The scene fades into Mulder talking to yet another FBI Office Of Professional Review, the interogation table packed with A.D.s including Skinner (don't get too comfy, hun). Mulder tells them he is slowly putting together the files he lost but what he's recovered already will allow him and Scully to go back to work on the X-files. Not so fast, bub, there's the small matter of this nonsense in Antarctica to explain first. Scully enters the room and takes a seat beside Mulder, not looking exactly thrilled to be there. While I honestly didn't think they could swing it, they manage to explain the whole movie plot in a few minutes, even comparing it to "Men In Black". Mulder, when asked to provide proof, confidently tells them that Scully was infected with this virus, a virus she can prove is extraterrestrial, take it away, Scully! ... Ummmm, Scully? ... The floor's yours, tell 'em all about the alien spaceship and the tube down your throat and the goo ... She opens her mouth to speak, then thinks twice about it and Mulder, realizing she's not going to be any help, just stares at her in disbelief. Next we see them leaving the conference room, Mulder storming out ahead of Scully, saying, "Next time, I'll wear a clown suit and do balloon tricks." He, he, isn't that the plotline for episode number 11? ;-) He's furious at Scully for claming up, her scientific proof was all he had to rely on. But Scully's not sure about anything that happened and didn't really see very much. She's run tests on the virus but still can't identify it except to say it is definitely "of this world". She never saw any alien babies inside human hosts like Mulder did and can't say the virus actually creates anything, just destroys cells. She's just a big ol' fat help, eh? Mulder just glares at her when she says he can't question the science on this one. He storms off again and she lets out a sigh right along with the audience. We're back to the beginning all right, Scully's the skeptic scientist and Mulder's the bull-headed believer again. The action shifts to New York and the smokey Consortium meeting room. Cancer Man flashes slides of Sandy's bloodied body on a screen, apologizing for the sloppiness in Phoenix. The scientist must have accidently injected himself while working on the virus. The First Elder is concerned the press got ahold of these charming snapshots but Cancer Man says he placated them with a yarn about a mad Indian on the loose (where did THAT come from?). Of more concern is how the creature took a mere 12 hours to gestate then promptly killed a guy just after birth. The Second Elder takes the place of the dearly departed Well-Manicured Man and spouts out, "God almighty!" The creature must be found and stopped, Cancer Man's on the job. Back in his new office, Mulder works away on restoring his burned files, alone and with only one desk in sight. The door opens, letting in some light (you're going to hurt your eyes literally working in the dark, Mulder) and Skinner walks in to announce the committee's decision ... Mulder and Scully will not be reassigned to the X-files, gasp! Poor Mulder is stunned while poor Skinner is saddled with dialogue such as, deep breath ... "When will you accept that no amount of pressure or reason will bring to heel a conspiracy whose members walk these halls with absolute impunity?" Man, let a guy leave with some shred of dignity intact, will ya, Chris? Anyway, Mulder asks how the voting went and is told it was unanimous. Skinner, how could you?! Mulder gathers his files, all in little baggies, into a box, shuts off his computer and glares at Skinner as he stands in his way at the doorway. Skinner says it wouldn't have helped if he'd been outside the majority vote anyway. Mulder says, "Inside or out, I don't see that there's a damn thing you can do for me." Au contraire, my friend, Skinner's left a file folder on his old office desk containing proof of the alien virus. Way to go, big fella, I knew you wouldn't let me down! Next we see Mulder entering the old office, now cleaned up with the walls bare and managing to maintain plant life, something Mulder never bothered to try. The desk contains nothing but a file folder, surprising nobody beat him to it. He sets the box down and opens the file to find yet another shot of Sandy's gory death scene. In another part of the office, one I don't recall seeing in the old version, Agent Spender pipes up, wanting to know what Mulder's doing. He sets the file back down and asks what the heck a brown-nose like Spender's doing in his office, he'll be damned if he'll let Spender take his place. But Spender still thinks Mulder's work is "paranormal mumbo jumbo", he's not taking his place ... cue Agent Diana Fowley's entrance. Yes, the woman we saw shot and out of it at the end of last season, presumably in a coma or something during the movie timeline, is now fit as a fiddle and raring to go, sheesh! As Mulder observes, fit enough to stab him in the back it seems. He gathers up his box and walks out of the office. The new X-files team look at each other, then walk into The Office to get to work. Without the file folder, which is now missing. Somewhere in a medical facility we come upon Cancer Man flagrantly flaunting a "No Smoking" sign glowing in the darkness behind him and lighting up a ciggie. He walks into the operating room, puffing away, and the doctors working on a patient's head look up at him in surprise but no one dares to speak. Cancer Man tells them to get the boy ready, he's taking him on a little trip, but one of the doctors says this could kill the kid. Slap a bandaid on him, "it's him or it's us." Really enjoyed the effect of Cancer Man's smoke illuminated by the light on the doctor's head. He leaves in a cloud of smoke and the camera pans down to show the patient, Gibson Praise, shaved bald, his head strapped to a restraining device and his brain open for surgery, ewwwww. Worse, he's fully awake and alert. In Phoenix, Mulder and Scully arrive at Sandy's house and Mulder marches in the front door. Scully stays back and tries to explain to him that they're breaking the law by simply being there, especially without telling the local cops. But he isn't listening as she says to herself (and to us, 'cause it cracked me up), "Why do I bother?" She closes the door behind them, taking note of the blood-drenched and scratched door. Then Mulder calls her over to see some very deep and long scratches on the hallway wall, supposedly made by the attacking Indian's bare hands according to the official report. Yeah, right, and these deep gashes in the hardwood floor were done by someone's hands? Don't think so. Mulder spots something within the wall marks and pulls it out. It's a nail and not RuPaul's! From the report, it seems the man on the couch died hours before the other scientist so the attacker must have stayed behind and waited. But, no, Mulder says, it wasn't really an attack, more like a birthday celebration as he pieces together that the man on the couch must have given birth to an alien. That Mulder and his wacky theories, Scully finds it all hard to digest. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to our heroes, Cancer Man and Gibson, his head all bandaged and bleeding a nice red line across his skull, are seated outside the house in a car. The kid tells him the alien was definitely here but is now gone and the driver volunteers to check anyway. Gibson seems to get nervous and makes it clear the alien's not there now (he obviously knows Mulder and Scully are inside and doesn't want Cancer Man's thug to find them). He tells Cancer Man he knows he's afraid of him and wants to kill him, "You think I can destroy you for what I know, because of what I am." He also knows his goose is cooked if he can't find the alien. Cancer Man's sure he will find it and they drive off. Just as they do, Mulder and Scully leave the house, whew, good timing, kids. Mulder doesn't understand why Scully can't believe his theory when she agrees with him that the report is bogus. What will it take for her to believe? A bite on the butt? He saw the creatures in the Arctic and she would have too if she'd been healthy and hadn't passed out (how damn convenient). She clasps his hand in hers, with an action-grip as opposed to a tender touch, the camera lingers to fool us into thinking we have a Big Moment coming up, we clutch our boxes of Kleenex in preparation ... She tells him she knows what happened to her and what he did to help her. She remembers him saying her science had saved him and made him a whole person, which is why she can't change now, it wouldn't be right or honest. He drops her hand, says, "I'm sorry, Scully, but this time your science is wrong." and walks away. We all sit back in our chairs and shake our heads, duped again. Cut to Rolling Hills Nuclear Power Plant, just east of Phoenix, as we see a man sleeping on the job to the tune of "Put On A Happy Face" blaring out of a tape player. Before all of us Simpsons fans can say, "Hi, Homer!", sure enough, his fellow employee says, "Wake up, Homer." Groan, this was the cute Simpsons joke? Lame. Anyway, it seems there's a problem with the temperature in the system, maybe even the core reactor, Homer has to go check it out. He switches off the tape player which is starting to become quite annoying, then makes matters worse by singing the song to himself as he heads off to investigate. In time-honoured horror movie fashion, this next scene takes far too long and has zero pay-off. In a nutshell, Homer Hears A Who ... I mean, a noise among the pipes and creeps closer to it. He sees something, maybe an alien hand, creeping out from behind the pipes and, for some reason, tries to poke at it with his wrench. Keep singing that damn song, Homer, that'll scare it off! But, no, he verrrry slowly continues to poke away until the hand finally lashes out and grabs him. Cue the cameraman's orders to now move away from all the action so we can't see a darn thing but we get to listen to Homer's blood-curdling screams. Time has passed and the power plant is now crawling with cops as Mulder and Scully pull up in their car (with Scully behind the wheel no less). Spender, in his nifty FBI jacket, quickly stops them as they walk towards the plant, "Authorized officers and personnel only. This is a closed area." Rub it in, why don't ya? Scully tells him they got a call about a man being murdered here and Spender asks if it was from A.D. Skinner. He'll see to it Mulder and Scully pay for disobeying orders and have Skinner's actions reviewed. Hey, don't drag Skinner into this, buster, your fight's with Mulder, leave my boy alone, grrrrrrr. Diana appears and Mulder appeals to her to let them onto the crime scene but she says she can't, that the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) has had it sealed. No one was murdered, it was merely an accident due to a systems failure. She tells Mulder the case may be linked to two other deaths and a case file stolen from their office (cringe, *their* office). He assures her it is related and as Scully leads him away he says to Fowley, "I hope you know whose errand you're running." Back at their car, Mulder tells her they know the alien is there and she asks how they can know, how does *he* know? He looks in the back seat of the car, tells her to give him the keys and get in. As he heads for the driver's seat, she slowly opens the back door and slips in to the seat where Gibson is lying down. She cradles his little bandaged head in her lap and tries to wake him up, "Gibson? Gibson, sweetheart?" But she gets no response. Time passes and we're now at the Camelback View Motel. Gibson is sitting up in Scully's bed, propped up with pillows as she sits next to him and tenderly cuts away his bandage. As she finally reveals his angry-red scars, Mulder enters the room and sits down next to her. Hey, at least we got them in bed together ;-) You can't hide much from Gibson as he reads Scully's thoughts, "Frankenstein? Really?" No, no, she assures him, the doctors did a fine and dandy job, don't worry. But he knows she thinks they were butchers which Mulder agrees with. Nice going, Mulder, scare the kid, couldn't you think about "Baywatch" again? Scully gives Gibson the goods, admits that his bandages should have been changed and he now has some swelling, infection and a fever. Why on earth did someone do this to him? Because he can read minds, he says. Well, d'uh! That explains everything, doesn't it? He tells them he snuck into their car when the others weren't looking, so much easier when you can read their minds and he's being used to communicate with "it". Scully asks what and he says, "You already know. You just don't want to believe it." Scully and Mulder share a look and move away from the bed to chat. Mulder's all excited, Gibson could help them find the alien, but Doctor Scully reminds him the kid belongs in the hospital under constant care. He just might be what they speculated in The End, the key to everything in the X-files, the scientific connection and proof. As Mulder says, though, they're not in charge of the X-files anymore, why bother? Right, Mulder would give up that easily? Don't think so. Scully brings him back to his senses, saying the kid may be their last and best chance. They both look over at Gibson. He looks at them, knowing every word they just said, of course. Next we see Mulder carrying Gibson out to the car where Scully waits in the driver's seat. He puts the kid in the back as a car approaches, its headlights blinding them both and providing a cover for the unknown driver. A voice calls from the car, telling Mulder she's alone. It's that annoying Fowley, get rid of her, Mulder! He closes the car door and heads over to her car, slightly annoyed and asking why she's there. She wants to reassure him that his work on the X-files is safe with her and she grabbed the assignment when it was offered, she didn't ask for it. After all, they found the X-files together. *shudder* Hearing her say this sent a chill down my spine. She tells him the creature is somewhere in the number 4 reactor building, does he want "them" to find it and kill it or will he come with her to find it? He scoots over to Scully still sitting in the car and performs the First Official Dump of the season, albeit a nice one where he actually tells her where he's going for once. Off on a little alien hunting, my dear, take care of Gibson and don't wait up. In Diana's car, she tells Mulder the body at the power plant was gone by the time she arrived on the scene with Spender (after a phone tip from the NRC people apparently. Man, their office chairs are barely warm and they already have shadowy informants?). She's not sure who swiped the body, nobody would fess up, but the number 4 reactor was soon sealed off due to heat transfer problems, which she believes to be the truth. A lightbulb flicks on over Mulder's head. Heat, the creature needs extreme heat (remember how they stopped its growth with extreme cold in the movie?) but why seek it out now, after it's been born? "What if it's still developing?" Fowley asks, he didn't expect any of this to make sense, did he? Mulder picks his jaw off the floor, not used to anyone else thinking as he does, then says simply, "No." Together in spirit, they drive onwards. Cut to the hospital as Scully arrives with Gibson. He's wheeled in on a gurney as she walks beside him, reassuring him that he'll be fine. You can't fool this kid, though, he knows they're going to run more tests on him and Scully admits that they must if he wants to get better. He knows she merely wants to learn from him. Poor Scully's face tells us both that he's right and she hates herself for it. Frankly, the kid *should* be worried, very few children get away from Scully intact! As he's whisked onto a bed, she ensures him he's a special boy and he snorts back, "I'm a very special lab rat." The curtain is snapped shut, leaving Scully to her thoughts, maybe flashing back to the last lab rat she had to deal with, Emily. Back to the power plant as Mulder and Fowley (ouch, hurts my fingers to type that!) investigate where Homer's body was found. Mulder is stopped in his tracks as he steps in a pile of what looks like goo. They both kneel down beside it and Mulder sticks his fingers in, ewwww. At least he doesn't make like Fraser on "Due South" and taste it. Especially after his lame joke about someone having the flu, double ewwww. Our intrepid detectives follow the slime trail further into the plant and the ominous pipes until they reach the exact spot where Homer died. Mulder spots Homer's dropped wrench (nobody picked it up earlier?) and gets a closer look at the pipes, all scratched by deep grooves he should recognize. But no, our boy starts to stick his nose in further, just like the hapless Homer did then jumps back with a start when he hears something ... something slimey and gooshy moving around. "There's something in there." Well, yeah, Mulder, so get your face outta there! He foolishly pops back in to poke around again and spots something. With nary a thought as to what might be attached to it, he drags out what appears to be a big chunk of gooey skin material. It drops onto the floor and he hunkers down to check it out. Both Mulder and Fowley nearly jump out of *their* skins as the shrill ring of his cellphone echoes off the pipes. It's Scully calling from the hospital to report on Gibson's startling test results. They've found the virus in his system and Scully's pretty sure it's the same one she was infected with. What could it all mean? Scully doesn't know, but it could be a link. "I'll call that bet and raise you." says Mulder cryptically. Without telling her what he's found, of course, as that would make it all crystal-clear, he tells her to just keep an eye on the kid. Cue Cancer Man's thug/driver dressed in a blue hospital uniform as he whips back the curtain surrounding Gibson. Soon afterwards Scully heads for his room and finds his bed empty. She loses her nut as she yells at the staff who appear to be wandering aimlessly around the hallway. They haven't a clue where he is. But we do, in the back of an ambulance being driven by Old Smokey's thug, oh no! Back inside the power plant, Mulder and Fowley continue their investigation and soon spot Gibson and the goon on a walkway above their heads. The agents run around, circling and following the others and I'm shocked they weren't spotted or at least heard, Fowley's heels verily rattle the rafters. After much more chasing than is possibly necessary in an hour-long show, throughout the cinematic plant full of murky corners and spooky shadows, they finally stop as Gibson and the thug reach their destination. They enter a room of some kind surrounding a vat of super-charged water bubbling with nuclear rods. It's here somewhere, Gibson tells him. They walk down a set of stairs, reaching the level where Mulder and Fowley can see them through a locked door's window. Mulder pounds on the glass, yelling at them to open the door. Fowley says she'll look for another entrance and runs off. Gosh, I don't know, what about the door where they came in upstairs? Just a thought, I don't have all those years of FBI training or anything. As Mulder continues to pound on the glass, Gibson and the thug spot something. "I told you it was here." Bit late, kid, just like that Fowley shooting! The creature grabs the bad guy and the window in front of Mulder is soon splattered with blood as the thug's head is slammed against it with great force. Continously. Blood and brain bits everywhere, really messy stuff, don't watch it, kids. Now Mulder can see the kid and the alien staring at each other and he yells out Gibson's name. Suddenly an alarm starts to sound, Fowley rushes down a set of stairs and she's got Mulder in her gun-sights. He stares at her in shock, then snaps his head back to look through the window. Gibson's gone, along with the alien, all we can see is the dead body of the thug. Next we see Mulder and Scully seated before the Office Of Professional Review again, the same table full of A.D.s before them ... except for one. Skinner's chair is empty! Dear God, what have they done to Skinner?! The same woman from the opening, A.D. Maslin, lays it on the line for our agents. "You and Agent Scully will cease all material association with the X-Files. Refusal to do so will end in immediate dismissal. A probationary period will be set. You will now report to Assistant Director Kersh." The camera settles on an African-American man we've never seen before. A rather by-the-book, stern and haughty-looking man, as a matter of fact, or so I assessed in the 5 seconds we saw him :-) Scully looks to Mulder for a reaction, but Mulder doesn't budge and is silent. Mulder's face at the hearing now fades into Spender's face in his office as he receives a visitor. Gasp, it's his smokey father! Don't you know what he did last time he was there, Jeffy? Hide the matches! Spender's surprised to see him, Cancer Man had made a deal not to show up there (!), but he just wanted to pop by and congratulate his "son" on his handling of Mulder, (bit of a shiver when he calls him "son") saying he'll be on thin ice now. But, as we all know, Mulder will be back, says Spender. Cancer Man admits there are certain solutions, ones he's used before, but not in this situation. Spender's flabbergasted. You mean you've killed people, Daddy? Cancer Man has the line of the night for me, with a curl of a crooked smile and the smoke rising before his face, "You can kill a man but you can't kill what he stands for. Not unless you first break his spirit. That's a beautiful thing to see." (insert evil laughter, it was indeed beautiful) We drop in on the spirited Mulder as he works away in his new office, still piecing together those files. Couldn't have just backed them up, could you, Mulder? All this modern technology at your fingertips and you didn't take the time to back up a few discs. Let this be a lesson to us all. Scully knocks and walks in, closing the door when Mulder says, "It would make it harder for them to see that I'm totally disregarding everything I was told." She reminds him that should be "WE" not just "I", she's up to her pretty little neck as well. They can't shut down the X-files, he says, they've tried that before (and before that and one other time and ... we're not frightened anymore, so chin up, Mulder). Scully's there to tell Mulder about Fowley's report to OPR, seems it doesn't quite match up to his version. "I hope you haven't been betrayed." He says it was all to protect the X-files. According to Fowley's report, the man he saw attacked by an alien beast was merely bludgeoned by an unknown subject. There's no mention of Gibson and no one seems to know where he is. The report protects everything ... except Mulder. He's all defensive now, says Fowley put herself at risk just taking him there and he did see a creature, one she refuses to believe in. Diana saw it as well, even if she didn't report it. Scully tells him it's not a matter of doubt, it's a matter of trust and he has to trust her judgement. She goes to hand him a file folder, but he backs away, thinking it's her report. It's a DNA test of that claw-nail they found in Sandy's wall, it matches the virus' DNA exactly. Mulder grabs the file from her hands, wild-eyed with expectation at what this all means. "That's the connection." He's told it also matches Gibson's DNA, which throws him off. You mean the kid was infected with the virus? Not quite, says Scully, it's just a part of his DNA, in fact, a part of all of us. It's a "genetic remnant", "inactive junk DNA" for the rest of us but Gibson's is turned on. But ... if that's true, then Gibson would be part alien. "It would mean that all of us are." Ooooooo! Spooky stuff, Scully. Cut to the power plant as we find Gibson (not sure why nobody else could!) hiding behind some pipes in the room where the creature attacked the thug. The camera slips into the super-heated water in the center of the room and through the bubbles we see the creature perched on the bottom. We watch with fascination as the skin on its arms and head peels away. It emerges from this cocoon a changed alien, gaining another finger (he now has 5) and a more humanistic head. Why, he looks just like whatever the heck Scully saw scampering around in Paper Clip ... in the Strughold mine.

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6.02 Drive

US Airdate: November 15, 1998

writer: Vince Gilligan

director: Rob Bowman

We begin in Elko, Nevada, where a late-breaking news flash on TV is showing a police chase between a blue Barracuda and the Nevada Highway Patrol. Patrick Crump is driving the Barracuda with his wife, Vicky, lying on the back seat in extreme pain. A vein on her temple is bulging ominously. Ahead of the speeding duo the cops have set up a road block, one of those spiked bars which will damage the car's tires and slow it down considerably. Sure enough, Crump hits the spikes and his car is swiftly pulled over. While one trooper tries to hold Mr. Crump on the ground as he thrashes about yelling, "No! She has to keep going!", another trooper places Mrs. Crump in the back of a police car where she begins to bang her head against the window. One of her eyes goes bloodshot ... then her head explodes, ewwwww! Meanwhile, in Buhl, Idaho, we find Mulder and Scully at a farmhouse doing routine checks on fertilizer (suspected terrorism, see "The Beginning" for why they're not on an x-file case). While talking to the farmer, Mulder spots the Crumps' chase on TV and, naturally, both of our heroes are intrigued. They're off to Elko, Nevada, unbeknownst to the FBI, that is, those sneaky devils. Back in his Elko Precinct cell, Patrick Crump sits all alone, presumably greiving for his dead wife. Suddenly, his nose begins to bleed and he freaks out, yelling to anyone who can hear him, "Somebody?! It's starting! ... Let me out!" Mulder and Scully arrive on the scene and are told they can't see Mr. Crump as a doctor has been called to check on him. While Mulder waits for a chance at questioning Patrick, Scully does her doctorly duty and heads to the morgue for a peek at Vicky Crump. At the morgue, the young female coroner shows Scully the corpse. Vicky Crump's head is blown apart but with no signs of gunpowder, carbon stippling or an entry wound, it must be an exit wound, but how? Scully inserts a probe into the head and finds something springy to the touch. A further push creates a hissing ... then bubbles foam out of the wound ... then ... BLAMMO! Scully is hit by an explosion of blood ... ewwwww! The head now looks like a deflating balloon. Meanwhile, back at the precinct, an unconscious Patrick Crump, the veins in his temple throbbing, is being moved via a gurney into an ambulance as Mulder runs to catch up with him. He's loaded into the back of the ambulance and Mulder tries to join him, but he's stopped, so he follows behind in his car. As the ambulance's speed increases, Crump's heartbeat slows down to a normal rate and he wakes up. He looks over at a cop sitting next to him, then looks at his gun. We switch to Mulder following the vehicle closely. All of a sudden, the ambulance swerves and comes to a stop and Mulder nearly collides with it. The back doors of the ambulance open and Mulder sees Crump holding a gun, the EMTs with their hands in the air. As Mulder reaches for his own gun, Crump points his weapon at him. Cut to Scully as she tries calling Mulder on her cell phone. Eventually he answers and Scully tells him what happened at the morgue. While she has no idea what happened to Vicky Crump, she tells Mulder to stay away from Patrick Crump, whatever this "virus" may be, it's communicable. She's too late, Crump's lying on the back seat of Mulder's car with his gun pointed at him. Scully's in the quarantined morgue, her cell phone her only connection to the police captain on the other side of the window. The police are tracking Mulder as it heads west, cruisers close behind him, a helicopter being kept at a distance and the road block still in place. They've contacted Crump through Mulder's phone. He tells them to back off or he shoots Mulder! The cruisers back off, leaving Mulder and Crump on their own. Being his usual charming self, Mulder makes a snide remark which ticks off Crump and he throws Mulder's cell phone out the window. Smooth move, Mulder! He soon comes to a stop light and as he slows the car down, Crump starts hyperventilating, so Mulder floors it and runs the light. That nasty vein starts bulging again, Mulder gets the car up to 70MPH and Crump's condition begins to improve. Mulder's detective skills kick in and he asks Patrick if this is what happened to Vicky. If she got worse when the car slowed down, and improved when they were speeding. Patrick confirms that the car has to keep moving. Mulder's worried about the upcoming road block and when Patrick asks him how he knew, Mulder points to the chopper still following them from the air. If the car is stopped, Patrick will die, so Mulder finds a fire road and takes off, away from the road block. Back at the morgue, Scully is informed of Mulder's new route and assumes he has a good reason (you mean other than the gun pointed at his head, Scully?), then her cell phone rings. It's A.D. Kersh, their new boss, and he's mighty ticked that they're in Nevada, but the field office in Las Vegas will assist them if they're needed. Doesn't take long for our duo to get up Kersh's nose, eh? 'S'okay, buddy, Skinner would have been miffed too, they have a habit of doing this. Back to the car as Mulder and Crump begin to bond. Well, it's mainly yelling and fighting, but that Mulder's a tough nut to crack at the best of times. For some reason, during all this bonding, Crump calls Mulder a Jew ... which he confirms (finally we can put an end to the religious debates, right? There, it's on the table, Mulder is indeed Jewish). Things seem to calm down and then Crump yells out, "It's the wrong way! Go this way!" and Mulder turns the car west again, nearly colliding with several cars in the process. Crump begins banging his head against the window ... the audience waits for the explosion ... he's yelling out in pain ... we all cover our eyes ... but, he recovers and all is well once more. Scully, now donning a contamination suit, arrives at the Crump's mobile home in Montello, Nevada, along with 3 other men, including the doctor from the morgue. They wander through the house, but find nothing of interest. In the backyard, however, Scully sees a dog chained to a pole running around in westward circles (don't ask me how we know he's facing west, I haven't a clue, weather-vane perhaps?). She calls for the others to join her, she wants to retrieve a blood sample from the dog, but when the doctor grabs the dog, its chest explodes and the doctor is coated with doggie blood. As they bag up the dog and take it away, Scully spots a light on in a neighbour's house. She knocks on the door but gets no answer, so she opens the unlocked door and walks in. Inside she finds a bird cage with two dead parakeets, their teeny little heads all blown away, awwww. Searching the rest of the mobile home, Scully finds a woman who seems completely unaffected by this strange "virus". Why didn't she answer the door? She's deaf. Hmmmm... Back in the car, Crump tells Mulder that his wife, Vicky, had been cooking breakfast that morning when her nose began to bleed, she was then hit by a massive headache. Patrick put her in the truck and headed for the hospital, noticing that the faster the car went, the better she seemed to get. As we've all begun to suspect by now, Crump is convinced the government is behind all this, running tests on him and his wife. Strangely, Mulder doesn't say a word. He has other things on his mind soon as the car is almost out of gas. Using that sharp Mulder brain, and dandy driving skills, he writes a note for Scully (remember Crump ditched his cell phone) as he drives the car to a gas station. Leaving the note in the car, they reach the station and quickly dump the car while they steal a station wagon. They're off and running, or driving, westward bound. Hi, yo, Mulder, away! Couldn't help myself with the words "wagon" and "west" so close together, I switched into a western mood, sorry, back to the plotline... The police captain finds the car and Mulder's note, which he reads to Scully, still at the deaf woman's home, over the phone. "Crump sick---will die if stopped, same as wife. Must head west to keep him alive. NO ROADBLOCKS!" While she listens to the captain, Scully scans the woman's yard and notes an awful lot of dead birds, hundreds of 'em, and a small "access plate" (frankly, I'm not quite sure what that means ... an electrical outlet in the house or something in the yard?). The plate is humming ominously and is marked "U.S. GOVERNMENT PROPERTY--TAMPERING PUNISHABLE BY FINE AND INCARCERATION." Can't fool our Scully, she's pretty sure this is a CLUE with a capital "C"! Scully goes to Horizon View Naval Research Station in Wendover, Nevada and asks about the electrical equipment the Navy is maintaining in Montello. She's told that they had a power surge which had affected four states and when she asks if this may have any affect on humans, she's told it's classified. Oooooo... We mosey on back to the wagon trail, I mean, to the car, where Crump is getting worse no matter how fast Mulder keeps driving. They soon pass into California where they're greeted by two California Highway Patrol cops on motorcycles (Hi, Ponce! Old show called "CHiPs", nevermind, kids) and they hand Mulder a cell phone. It's Scully calling from a justice department jet (bet that ain't cheap!) and she's heading west to meet up with them. If Mulder and Crump can meet her at a coastline parking lot, Scully can attempt to insert a long, large-bore needle into Crump's inner ear, relieving the pressure but possibly leaving him deaf. Crump doesn't care, he's all for it. Next we see Scully at the scheduled meeting place, she watches the station wagon arrive escorted by a couple of CHP officers. As the car pulls to a stop in front of her, Scully sees that the back window is covered in blood ... it's too late, Crump exploded before they could get there. Understandably, Mulder's pretty upset, but it's all finally over. In the end, we see Mulder and Scully in A.D. Kersh's office. To put it mildly, the boss is steamed and charges the stolen station wagon and justice department jet's fees to Scully. Just another day in the life... fade to black...

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6.03 Triangle

US Airdate: November 22, 1998

writer: Chris Carter

director: Chris Carter

A TRIP TO THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE LANDS MULDER IN HE MIDDLE OF A BIZARRE CONFLICT ON A MYSTERIOUS SHIP, WITH THE FATE OF THE WORLD IN HIS HANDS.

Thrown out of his dingy by a ferocious storm in the Sargasso Sea, Mulder is fished out the ocean by hostile sailors. When he regains his wits, he realizes he's boarded the "Queen Anne", an English luxury liner that disappeared in the 1930s during World War II. Brought before the ship's captain Yip Harburgh, Mulder tries to explain that the war is over and that the boat has been caught in some kind of time warp called the Devil's Triangle for the past 50 years. But he captain and crew have very different feelings, as the reality of the moment tells us that the liner has been captured by Nazi soldiers. The Nazis believe that the boat is carrying "Thor's Hammer", which they assume to be an atom bomb. When Mulder accidentally reveals that "Thor's Hammer" is the scientist who can make an atom bomb, the Nazis steer a path for Germany, hoping to use the atom bomb technology to win the war. The atom bomb scientist on board is traveling with a woman who looks identical to Scully. Mulder enlists the aid of the Scully look-alike, telling her she must turn the ship around and save the future. If she doesn't, the Germans will win the war, and ultimately, Mulder and Scully will not exist. The Scully look-alike is confused, but Mulder is in a hurry, he's got to get back to his own history. Realizing he may never get another chance, he gives the Scully look-alike a deep kiss, for which she repays him with a "special" kiss of her own - a right hook to his chin. Mulder jumps overboard. Meantime, the Lone Gunmen approach Scully at FBI headquarters and inform her of Mulder's disappearance. She enlists the help of Skinner to get information from the Navy's satellite tracking system to find the missing ship. Racing to the spot where Mulder disappeared, the Gunmen and Scully find the ship and rescue Mulder. At the hospital, the Lone Gunmen, Scully and Skinner visit Mulder. He tries to explain all that happened, but they downplay it as a dream. They all wish him a speedy recovery and leave. It is then that Mulder feels a bruise on his face given to him by one of the Nazis. And he realizes it wasn't a dream after all.

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6.04 Dreamland

US Airdate: November 29, 1998

writers: Vince Gilligan, Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban

director: Kim Manners

AN ANONYMOUS TIP FINALLY BRINGS MULDER AND SCULLY TO THE MECCA OF ALL UFO LORE - AREA 51. BUT WHEN THE AGENTS WITNESS THE FLIGHT OF A MYSTERIOUS CRAFT, THEIR LIVES ARE PROFOUNDLY - AND PERHAPS IRREVOCABLY - ALTERED.

Mulder drags Scully deep in the Nevada desert to meet a "source" who supposedly works at Area 51 and is going to give Mulder proof positive of the government's experimentation with alien technology. Unfortunately, before they can rendez-vous with the informant, they are stopped by other Area 51 officials who tell them they must turn around. As Scully tries to haul Mulder back into the car, a UFO flies overhead. It emits a massive heat ripple which switches the personalities of Mulder and Morris Fletcher, one of the Area 51 officials. Unbeknownst to anyone other than Mulder and Morris, Morris (who now inhabits Mulder's body) climbs back into the car with Scully, leaving Mulder (who is now in Morris' body) with the Area 51 goons. Entrenched behind the walls of the mecca of UFO lore, Mulder tries to untangle the mess he's found himself in. Morris, on the other hand, is just happy to be given this new life as a single FBI agent; he doesn't lift one finger to try to reverse the situation. Mulder tries to prove to Scully that he is not Morris, though Scully is skeptical at best. He tells her he will give her scientific proof via a flight data recorder which was recovered from another plane that crashed during test flights at Area 51. Unfortunately, Morris (aka Mulder) gets wind of Mulder's plan and informs A.D. Kersh. Kersh then orders Scully to set a trap for Mulder. The Area 51 police arrive and capture Mulder. And as Scully watches the MPs drag off this man who looks like Morris Fletcher, but claims to be Mulder, she wonders if there may be any truth to the odd turn of events.

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6.05 Dreamland 2

US Airdate: December 6, 1998

writers: Vince Gilligan, Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban

director: unknown

The following plotline is not confirmed and my sources cannot be revealed, just enjoy and don't ask any questions! Some of this is going to be a tad confusing right now as I don't have the plotline for part one, but stick with me, this sounds like it could be a hoot! Heeeere we go! We begin with a recap of part one, which ends with Mulder and a man named Morris Fletcher, an employee at Area 51 and a Man In Black who looks exactly like him, engaged in a fight when a UFO flies over them, their bodies are fused and they somehow trade places. The teaser begins with a man's hand opening up an x-file folder, noted by a large red "X" on the cover. The file belongs to Fox Mulder (until now, we've only known of an x-file on Samantha, not Fox himself) and we scan over his basic info sheet and picture as the voiceover, apparently Morris Fletcher, tells us Fox led a normal life as a young boy way back in October of 1968... Cut to the house in Chilmark, Massachusetts, or at least an old home movie of it as little Fox and his sister, Samantha, appear on-camera all dressed up for Halloween. He's wearing a Mr. Spock costume (from "Star Trek", for the three of you out there that don't recognize the name!) and Samantha's dressed up as a fairy. Fox is waving at the camera and trying to hold on to one of his Spock ears as it keeps sliding down. Eventually the ear falls off, Fox starts to cry and he runs off-camera, awwww. His mother pulls him back on-camera but Fox tromps on the fallen ear and runs away again. Mom decides to play the vamp for the camera, batting her eyelashes and flashing a little leg. At this point, the voiceover says there was a possibilty of infidelity in the marriage and talk of another man. In the movie, Mom motions for the camera to move away from her and towards the couch ... where we find a man in his 30's lighting a cigarette. Yikes, only one man we know of that smokes on this show, Cancer Man! He smiles and waves the camera away while our collective heads spin. As the camera focuses on little Samantha hugging her Mom's knees and waving her fairy wand, the voiceover says, "One day, she just disappeared." The image freezes and the scene fades to white. Bye-bye little Mulders... As we scan along a trophy wall of Mulder's achievements and photos, such as his Oxford diploma, Morris' voice says that Mulder wrapped himself in his work to try and forget what happened to his sister but she was never far from his mind. We scan over the beloved "I Want To Believe" poster and pictures of Bigfoot, UFOs, the Loch Ness Monster etc. and we're told that Mulder slowly but surely went out of his mind (gee, do ya think?!). He now lives like a monk, has a "great looking, but weird partner" and if the two of them had any sense, "they'd be boinking each other's brains out." Oh, I like this fella Morris, he's a smart dude ;-) According to the script, we now see Mulder's "old" office, but the description makes it sound like we're in current time, so it must be his "new" office. The office is empty, save for an x-files cabinet (and a desk, I'm assuming) with folders lying on top of it and reconstructed x-files, including Mulder's file. Morris says Mulder has thrown away a great career, respect and friends, now living a lonely life, "shaking his fist at the sky." We're back to the man going through Mulder's file, he's seen from the shoulders down. He's wearing an FBI badge ... marked as Fox Mulder! The camera shows his face and although he's supposed to be Mulder's double, we know it's Morris Fletcher (don't ask me how, just reporting the facts, ma'am). The voiceover wraps up with, "...he's one step away from pushing a baby carriage filled with tin cans down the street. But now, all that's gonna change." End of teaser, let's get this show on the road! The road in this case is a desert highway and Mulder is being tossed in the back of a Jeep Cherokee by some soldiers as he yells, "He's not me! Scully!". She's standing next to her car concerned about her decision to have this man arrested and looks over at Howard and Jeff, two more Men In Black (we obviously met them in part one). The men meet her glance and then get into their own Jeep Cherokee, taking Mulder's car with them. Scully is left standing next to Morris and his car (she thinks he's Mulder, remember?) and Morris sidles over to her nervously. He asks her if she hates him for "narking" on her to Kersh (ya got me, what did she do?!), but no, she's glad he did the right thing and is finally going by the book. The Mulder look-alike smiles, "Hey, it's the new me." Next we see Mulder inside Area 51 but not quite the way he's always dreamed ... being dragged down a long hallway in leg-irons and tossed into a small cell in the Maximum Security Brig, the door locked behind him. He yells for someone to remove his leg-irons, but the soldiers ignore him. Spotting Jeff Smoodge (same Jeff as earlier I'm assuming), an old friend of Morris Fletcher, through his cell's window, Mulder yells at him to get him out of here, he doesn't know what's going on. Jeff walks over to the cell, stares at Mulder and says, "I sure as hell don't know." then walks away ignoring Mulder's shouts to come back. Hearing a chuckle, Mulder looks into the next cell through a plexiglass wall and sees a woman who says they've both "disappeared". This "woman" is Lana Chee, but she's now Robert McDonough. Let's see if I can get this straight ... Mulder sees a woman, but she's actually a man ... or something like that, okay? Lana lights up a smoke (ooo, maybe she's really Cancer Man! Naaaa, just joshing) and moves over to the plexiglass wall where Mulder asks who she is and is told her call sign is "Maverick." Mulder's really confused now, this woman's far too old to be a pilot. He calls her "ma'am" and asks if she's okay, but "she" yells out, "Ma'am? Kiss my ass, you desk monkey!" We now focus in on a computer golf game Morris is playing in Mulder's office (yeah, right, Mulder's got a GOLF game on his 'puter and not Space Invaders or Doom or Naked Babes In Peril or something?!). More importantly, Scully arrives and walks over to HER desk across from his and across the land satisfied xphiles breathe a sigh of relief. Over at her desk, Scully is packing her things into a box! Sheesh, a gal finally gets her own desk and now she's moving on, what gives?! Relax fans, Kersh apparently told her she was insubordinate (when she did whatever she did in part one) and if she can't be a team player then she has to be suspended for two weeks without pay. As she leaves, Morris invites her to his (Mulder's) apartment for dinner at 8 and ... she says yes! Trouble with a capital T, girl. Meanwhile, back at the Area 51 brig, as the sun rises on a new day we see Mulder lying on his cot, wide awake, looking like he hasn't slept a wink all night. His neighbor, Lana, is nattering on and on about his (Robert's) airplane adventures and it seems the tales have been pouring out for hours. Mulder's had enough and yells, "Hey Grandma Top Gun! Shut ... the hell ... up!" Mulder gets a ciggie butt flicked at him through the vent in wall and Lana/Robert says "You're my bitch, pencil-neck." Before this can get SO much more interesting, Mulder's cell door suddenly opens and two Air Policemen (?) tell him to come with them as General Wegman wants to see him. In the General's office, Wegman is seated at his desk, Mulder's seated in front of him flanked by the two cops and a flight data recorder holds center stage on the desk. As we'll soon learn, everyone thinks Mulder is actually Morris and Jeff (his buddy from before) asks him why he didn't tell them what was going on. Mulder's thoroughly confused yet again and asks what the heck he means. Jeff taps the flight recorder saying it's the wrong one. General Wegman tells him Mulder (now actually Morris) replaced it and was running a scam on the FBI but failed to tell them about it. Struggling to fake his way through this, Mulder tells them he didn't know who to trust, there may have been a security leak and he had to approach Scully alone to find out who her real contact was. Howard pipes up and asks why he didn't tell us afterwards and Mulder says he knew they wouldn't believe him. When asked if Mulder (as in, Morris) has the real flight recorder and if it's safe, the real Mulder says, "Oh, yeah. Absolutely." Will he (Mulder, now Morris) bring it back? Yes, he will, says our Mulder, secretly concerned about how he'll pull this off. Whew, let's just hope this whole Mulder/Morris thing won't be as confusing on-screen, eh? If you thought the discovery of Scully's desk was exciting, wait 'till you see this ... Morris walks into Mulder's apartment and unloads a few grocery bags containing everything he needs for an intimate meal, including a bottle of champagne, onto the counter. Looking around for a bedroom, Morris stops at a hallway door and tries to open it. The doorknob doesn't want to budge, but it finally opens and unloads a pile of old file folders, UFO pictures and porno magazines on Morris. He's found Mulder's long-lost bedroom and it's piled high with junk. "Guy hasn't been laid in ten years!" Told ya this Morris was smart as a whip! So there ya have it, the reason Mulder's been sleeping on the couch all these years. As Morris is invading Mulder's turf, so we now see Mulder invading Morris' as he pulls up to the Fletcher house behind the wheel of Morris' car. He pulls into the driveway and narrowly misses hitting Morris' belongings all piled up on the driveway. In part one, Morris' wife, Joanne, was apparently furious at her husband as she believes he's carrying on with Scully. Mulder gets out and notices a car parked down the street with two N.D. men inside (haven't a clue, sorry) watching him. As Mulder turns towards the house, he sees Morris' daughter, Chris, walk out sporting a gold nose ring. He tells her he likes it and she says, "As if." Behind her comes her brother, Terry, and as he runs by he tells Mulder that Joanne is taking out a restraining order on him (thinking Mulder is his Dad, Morris). Nevertheless, Mulder walks in the house and a surprised Joanne asks him what he's doing there. Before Mulder can explain that he's not her husband, Joanne berates "Morris" about "that tramp Scully". Hey, watch your mouth, lady! Back at the love grotto, I mean, Mulder's apartment, Scully knocks on the door and is greeted by Morris wearing an apron that reads, "Something smells good". Can't wait for this scene myself, can you picture it? As if the apron isn't enough, Scully walks in and can't believe her eyes ... the place is spotless, squeaky clean, you could eat off the floors. Clue number one, Scully, Mulder's never cleaned his apartment, wake up, girl! She's then shocked again as Morris opens the door to Mulder's bedroom and Scully says she never knew he HAD a bedroom. And, get this, it has a canopy bed! The Lounge Lizard, I mean, Morris, pats the bed and tells Scully to sit down ... and she does! She then starts to bob up and down ... it's a waterbed! Oh, somebody stop my tears of laughter, this is too good, but wait, it gets better ... Scully's knocked onto her back by the waves, looks up and sees a mirror on the top of the canopy, this boy's too much! Morris tells her to stay put, he's off to get the champagne. He returns with the bottle and closes the door on the viewers, "leaving our imagination to run horribly wild." Please, Scully, come to your senses, it's not supposed to be like this... Luckily, nothing has happened yet as we now see Morris and Scully seated on the waterbed, Morris struggling with the champagne's cork. Scully frightens us all by saying, "You know what would be really fun?" and whips out her handcuffs. Oooo, she's kinky, Frohike would be beside himself if he knew. Morris cuffs himself to the bedpost, raring to go. Scully puts an end to this madness and pulls out her gun saying he's not Mulder. Whew! Morris says, "Baby?" and Scully replies, "You "baby" me and you'll be peeing through a catheter. You're Morris Fletcher." Line of the night goes to Scully, you tell him, babe! Morris fesses up and Scully asks him how to get everything back to normal. He says he has no idea, but then I doubt he wants to go back to being Morris what with his angry wife and the Men In Black who won't let him leave the "organization" (must be a plotpoint from part one again). The phone rings, Scully tells him to answer and it's one of Mulder's contacts with the real flight recorder everyone's looking for. Morris tells him to meet him at The Little A'Le'Inn. Meanwhile, Mulder/Morris and Joanne seem to have made some progress as she wants to make up and go out. Hey, how about going to The Little A'Le'Inn? Popular spot apparently. The next scene takes place at The Little A'Le'Inn, a roadhouse. Morris and Scully arrive in their car, she has her gun pointed at him. Scully's going to stay in the car so the contact isn't scared off. Morris walks into the place looking for the red Buffalo Bills cap his contact is supposed to be wearing and walks right by Mulder and Joanne but doesn't spot them. He slows down and spots the cap ... on General Wegman's head! Back at the other table, Mulder seems to have been sucking 'em back and gets up to go the bathroom. Meanwhile, Wegman admits to Morris (Mulder) that he sabotaged a UFO, or "black aircraft" as he calls it, that he's the security leak and for Morris to look under the table where he finds a brown paper bag containing the flight recorder. While these dirty dealings are going on, Mulder has snuck out the back door and tries to escape but finds the car locked. He looks around the parking lot and spots Scully. Seeing salvation, he jumps in the car, but Scully tells him what Morris is doing inside (how does she know this is the real Mulder? Wait and see, I guess), so Mulder goes back to the roadhouse and finds Jeff (he's everywhere!). As Jeff starts talking to him, Joanne appears and tosses a glass of white wine on Mulder's shirt (a little club soda will get that right out) and she storms off. He goes to the bathroom and begins dabbing at the shirt (oh, it'll just spread that way, tsk, tsk, you bachelors) when he suddenly sees himself enter the bathroom wearing different clothes, it's Morris! Mulder says, "So, you're the guy that wants my life. I'm assuming that includes all the ass-kickings." and shoves Morris up against the wall, preparing to do a little kicking himself. Morris gets on Mulder's good side by handing over the flight recorder and he loosens his grip. Out in the parking lot, Jeff finds a sobbing Joanne who is convinced her hubby is fooling around with Scully. She points to Scully's car, but it appears to be empty. Next we see Scully crouched on the floor, listening in to the discussion. Back in the washroom, General Wegman arrives trying to hide from Jeff and starts pacing as he bides his time. The two Mulders suddenly pop their heads up above the door of one of the stalls Kilroy-style, "Hey." At a loss for words, Wegman proclaims, "Hey." Not wanting to miss out on all the action, Scully enters the roadhouse on the lookout for Mulder and Morris but she spots Jeff instead. He's questioning the bartender with the two guys that were watching Mulder at Morris' house. She ducks into the ladies washroom and peeks out. Wegman surprises Jeff and the boys by walking out of the men's room and asking them to come outside with him. Both Morris and Scully head out after the gang leaves. Once outside, Wegman points out Mulder and tells the boys to detain him, hmmmm ... They grab him, he asks what's going on and Jeff asks "Morris" what he's got in the brown bag. Mulder says it's beer, Wegman asks if it's the flight recorder, so Mulder opens it up ... and it's a 6-pack of beer. With a glance, Mulder and Wegman signal they're in on this as we hear a car peel out of the parking lot. Obviously, they let Morris get away. Next thing we know, Morris and Scully arrive at the Lone Gunmen's office, the boys are eating Huevos Rancheros (it's in the script, not even sure what these are, nevermind why it's important to note!) when they knock on the door. Naturally, the Gunmen think Morris is Mulder as Scully seems to be the only one with the natural gift to not confuse the two (or so it seems). Scully hands over the flight data recorder, telling them it came from Area 51. She might as well have handed them the Holy Grail, the boys are beside themselves with joy. Someone's having fun, anyway, they hear Morris laughing as he peruses the Gunmen's newsletters. The boys are curious now, who IS this guy? Scully tells them the truth, that Morris assumed Mulder's identity through a warp in the space-time continuum. Natch, Scully, happens all the time in this neighborhood. Morris ticks Frohike off by calling him Melvin, Frohike says, "It's Frohike, you punkass, what've you done with Mulder?" Meanwhile, the real Mulder is in General Wegman's office where the General is hoping they aren't seen together. Mulder tells him that Scully is working on decoding the flight recorder, but Wegman tells him it's too late, "they" will make Wegman disappear. Mulder asks him why he made the UFO crash and is told it was an accident, he only wanted Mulder to see it as he believes in Mulder's search for the truth. Wegman says, "We just fly these birds, they don't tell us what makes 'em go. They engineer 'em all up in Utah." Hmmm ... all of 'em? No aliens, just the nasty government and their little projects? Has Mulder finally uncovered one of his elusive truths? Back at the Lone Gunmen's office, the boys have broken through the code and find readouts of Tachyon flux ... and gravitational displacement. The boys are stunned. Scully and Morris get set to leave when her cellphone rings. A.D. Kersh's secretary tells Scully that Kersh wants to see her right away, in person, hop to it. In the darkness of the Nevada desert, three UFO devotees, two guys and a girl, are backpacking when they come upon the infamous "black mailbox" (ummm, maybe I'm not as worldy as I thought, what's this?). While one of the guys gets friendly with the chick, the other guy, Sam, scans the heavens with his binoculars. All of a sudden he hears a rumbling and spies an incredible sight, a heat ripple and warp in the sky. Uh oh, it's happening again! Sam is amazed and when it disappears he asks the others if they saw it. No reply, so he turns around and is greeted by another eye-popping sight ... the two have "melted" into one with an arm coming out through the others' back and an eye in the other one's cheek, far out! Sam freaks and takes off on a run for help. Mulder's waiting beside Ahearns Gas Station as Scully and Morris pull up. Scully gets out to talk to Mulder, leaving Morris in the car flipping through radio stations. She tells him what happened with the flight recorder, that there actually was an anomalous event that night. Mulder just wants to know how to fix things, get him back where he belongs and get Morris out of his body (stop it, you naughty people!). Seems to Scully the only way to sort this out is to get Morris and Mulder back to the exact spot where the crash and event occured in the first place. She then tells him she's been relieved of her position yet again and Mulder joins the audience in its disbelief. Scully says, "I'd kiss you if you weren't so damn ugly." (a nod to "The Planet Of The Apes"). She gets back in the car with Morris and drives off as Mulder watches. "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair ...", we find Howard, one of our Men In Black from earlier, driving along when he suddenly comes upon Sam, the freaked-out UFO buff, running down the middle of the road. He forces Howard to stop and tells him what he witnessed, that his buddies are now fused into one. Howard gets out, follows Sam to where his friends are and finds them as two seperate bodies again, making out on a blanket as if nothing happened. Sam insists they were "messed up", Howard tells him he believes him. In the daylight now, in another car on the Nevada highway, we find Scully and Morris. He's nattering away as he drives, she's barely listening as she ponders how to help Mulder. Suddenly she yells for him to stop and back up the car. She gets out and walks to a gas station we saw completely destroyed in part one now looking perfectly normal. The attendant, last seen in some sort of fused state on the floor, burned to a crisp, now walks out to greet Scully. She's flabbergasted and tells him the place burned to the ground not two nights ago, but he denies it, she doesn't know what she's talking about. What can it all mean? Scully ponders. Mulder's playing moving man as he tosses Morris' belongings into a U-Haul back at the Fletcher house. Scully and Morris drive up and she gets out to talk to Mulder leaving Morris behind as he's not sure he should be there or will be welcomed at his house. His wife, Joanne, comes out dragging a Lazy-Boy recliner, spots Scully and starts to yell at her. She soon gives up and goes back to working on the chair, having trouble getting it out the door. Morris gets an attack of the guilts and goes to help her, convincing her he's the real Morris, not Mulder. Scully tells Mulder that whatever happened to him and Morris may be reversing itself and they have to get back to the original spot quickly. The three of them head for Scully's car, but are stopped by a couple of Jeep Cherokees containing Jeff and some soldiers. As Scully, Morris and Mulder are detained, one of the soldiers goes into Scully's car and returns with the flight recorder, "Got it." "On a dark desert highway ..." yet again, the Jeeps drive by a sign telling us they've entered Area 51 when they're stopped by a roadblock manned by good old Howard. Jeff gets out and asks him what he's doing. Howard says, "Cleaning up a mess." For some reason, Mulder realizes the time-warp thingy is now snapping back like a rubber band and they have to be in its path or they'll never get the chance to fix things again. There's an ominous rumbling in the sky, Mulder and Morris get out and everyone looks to the sky as a heat ripple washes over them. Next thing we know Mulder and Morris are back in their own clothes and bodies, everything's back to normal. Mulder and Scully get into their car (it was driven back by one of the soldiers) and Morris watches as they drive away. For some reason, Scully's now back in the office at her desk (I thought she was reprimanded?), she calls Mulder on the phone and he thanks her for all her help. They hang up and as Scully opens a drawer to put a file away, she spots something from part one ... a four-sided fused coin ... oooooo! Meanwhile Mulder arrives at his spotless apartment and as the screen goes to black for the credits, we hear the sound of waves on a water bed ... Mulder asks the darkness, "What the hell is this?" The End. All I can add is ... is it December YET?!

===================================================================== 6.06 Terms Of Endearment US Airdate: January 3, 1999 writer: David Amann director: Rob Bowman WHEN A MOTHER IS ACCUSED OF KILLING HER UNBORN CHILD, MULDER AND SCULLY BEGIN TO SUSPECT A MORE SINISTER FORCE IS AT WORK. Wayne and Laura Weinsider are just like any other couple - they want to start a family. But when the ultrasound shows possible deformities in the baby that Laura is carrying, it is Wayne who becomes visibly upset. That night, Laura has a nightmare that a demon has come to steal her baby. When she wakes, she realizes the nightmare has come true and that her unborn baby has been taken from her. The town's sheriff, who happens to be Laura's brother, brings the case to Agent Spender who round-files it to the shredder. But Mulder manages to salvage the report and begins his own investigation. His primary suspect is Wayne but Scully thinks that Laura self-aborted and has her arrested. Meantime, Mulder follows Wayne and ultimately uncovers that Wayne has been living a dual life. His second wife, Betsy, lives on the other side of town and Mulder fears for her safety. As Mulder and Scully race to save Betsy, a car skids to a stop in the middle of the road. It's Betsy, who exits the car bleeding, exclaiming that Wayne took her baby. Moving on to Betsy's house, Mulder and Scully find Wayne furiously digging in the backyard. The agents think Wayne is burying Betsy's unborn baby, but before Wayne can tell them otherwise, the sheriff arrives and shoots Wayne down. What Wayne would have told the agents is that he was actually digging up unborn normal babies - the ones Betsy had buried there. Being a demon himself, a normal baby was all Wayne ever wanted. But it seems Betsy, being even more evil than he, had always wanted just the opposite -- a demon baby. And as Betsy drives into the sunset with her newborn baby, we see that's exactly what she got. ====================================================================== 6.07 Rain King US Airdate: January 10, 1999 writer: Jeffrey Bell director: Kim Manners IN A SMALL TOWN PLAGUED BY DROUGHT, MULDER AND SCULLY COME UPON A MAN WHO CLAIMS TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL THE WEATHER - AT A HEFTY PROFIT. YET THE AGENTS DISCOVER A FORCE OF NATURE AT WORK, WHICH IS EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN THE WEATHER. Kroner, Kansas has been experiencing a three-month drought. It's Valentine's Day and Sheila Fontaine waits for her boyfriend, Darryl Mootz. When he arrives home, he's angry that Sheila has prematurely spread word of their engagement and storms out of the house, leaving Sheila alone with her tears and a box of chocolates. Shortly thereafter, Darryl is caught in a freak hailstorm which causes him to wreck his car. It's six months later and nine months into the drought. Mulder and Scully are called to Kroner by the town's mayor who believes that Darryl is causing the drought so he can charge people for the rain. When the agents check with Holman Hardt, the local meteorologist, Holman substantiates part of the mayor's claim - Holman believes that Darryl can make it rain. While Mulder and Scully check out Darryl's side-show, Sheila tells Holman she's nervous that the FBI are poking around. Shortly thereafter, Mulder's life is threatened when a cow is picked up by a mini-twister and hurled through the roof of the motel where he's staying. Out of guilt, Sheila confesses that she is the one who has been causing all of the terrible weather-related catastrophes that have been occurring in Kroner for the past twenty years. Mulder, however, has another theory. He believes that Holman is the culprit and that it is the feelings he can't express that have been effecting the weather. To wit, Holman has been pining away for Sheila since they were in high school together. But Sheila has divulged to Holman that she's got a crush on Mulder. Holman, in turn, causes it to rain in flash-flood proportions. To stop the deluge, Mulder gives Holman "dating" advice, telling him that he must tell Sheila how he feels about her. After much prodding, Holman opens his heart to her. One year later finds Holman and Sheila married with a child. And the weather, as you can imagine, is perfect. ===================================================================== 6.08 How The Ghosts Stole Christmas US Airdate: December 13, 1998 writer: Chris Carter director: Chris Carter ON THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, MULDER CONVINCES SCULLY TO PUT ASIDE HER GIFT WRAPPING AND STAKE OUT A REPUTED HAUNTED HOUSE. BUT THEY DISCOVER A MARRIED COUPLE (GUEST STARS LILY TOMLIN AND EDWARD ASNER) LIVING IN THE HOUSE, KEEPING A SECRET THE AGENTS NEVER EXPECTED. It's late Christmas Eve. Telling tales of star-crossed lovers who forged a pact to be together for eternity, Mulder lures Scully into the darkened mansion that the ghost couple purportedly haunts. Once inside, the front door locks behind the duo and traps them inside. Mulder believes it is the work of the ghosts who inhabit the house. Scully, ever the skeptic, instructs Mulder on the psychology of peoples' need to believe in the afterlife as a means to satisfy their fear of mortality. But when a previously locked door springs open and a light shines from inside the room beyond, Mulder chalks it up to ghosts. Scully, admitting that she is afraid but that it's an irrational fear, still sticks with the belief that people might be actually living in the house. Passing through the door, the partners find themselves in a library. And in a series of odd twists and turns, they become separated -each trapped in some parallel universe version of the library. It is here that Mulder meets Maurice The Ghost (Ed Asner), who convinces Mulder to shoot Scully. In her own parallel library, Scully meets Lyda The Ghost (Lily Tomlin), who convinces Scully to shoot Mulder. When the two agents meet back up, they follow through on the ghosts' mischievous plan and fire their weapons on each other. As they lay gasping on the staircase landing, they realize it was only some kind of mind trick played on them by the ghosts. Safely ensconced back in their homes, the duo agree that the events of the evening never happened. ====================================================================== 6.09 Tithonus US Airdate: January 24, 1999 writer: Vince Gilligan director: Michael Watkins PAIRED WITH A NEW PARTNER, AGENT SCULLY INVESTIGATES A CRIME SCENE PHOTOGRAPHER WHOSE SUBJECTS MAY IN FACT BE HIS VICTIMS. Relegated to doing background checks, Scully and Mulder are bored stiff. Assistant Director Kersh finally calls Scully up and pairs her with New York City field agent, Peyton Ritter, for a special assignment. While scanning old crime scene photos into the computer, Ritter stumbled upon inconsistencies in the times that the photos were taken. He feels that the man who took the pictures, a stringer named Alfred Fellig, is responsible. Ritter theorizes that Fellig kills people, takes their picture, then shows up later when called to do the crime scene photo job for the wire services. In a dark alley in the Bronx, a mugger tackles and kills his victim. Mid-crime, the mugger looks up to see Fellig on a fire escape, taking pictures. The mugger then turns on Fellig and knifes him in the back. Fellig falls to the concrete, dead, and the mugger takes off. Minutes after he's gone, Fellig pulls the knife out of his back and staggers off into the night. Fellig is brought in for questioning but denies killing anyone; he was just there for "the shot". And since they have no proof that Fellig committed the crime, they release him. But Ritter begins 24-hour surveillance on Fellig. Scully relieves Ritter late at night, only to realize shortly after Ritter leaves that Fellig is watching her. Exasperated, she confronts Fellig about his involvement in the murders that he photographs. He invites her to come for a ride and he will show Scully how he happens to be johnny-on-the-spot when a murder is committed. After driving around for hours, Fellig finally stops and points to a hooker. He tells Scully that the hooker will be dead within the hour. Not believing him, Scully confronts the hooker, who backs away from Scully, heads into the street and is run down by an oncoming truck. Scully, in shock at what she may have just caused, looks up in time to see Fellig drive off. Mulder does some low-tech research on his own and calls Scully to tell her that Fellig has a penchant for changing identities, the farthest one dating back to 1849. This makes Fellig 149 years old. Scully, not wanting Fellig to have another identity crisis, goes to Fellig's apartment where he ushers her into his darkroom. He explains that he was marked for death a long time ago, but somehow Death missed him. Fellig has been taking photos of dying people ever since in hopes of capturing the visage of Death on film so that he can look into Death's face and die as well. During the conversation, Fellig realizes that Scully is marked for Death and readies to take her picture. Agent Ritter arrives and fires instinctively into the darkened room. The bullet hits Fellig as well as Scully. As Ritter moves into the other room to call for help, Fellig takes Scully's hand and tells her not to look into Death's face. She closes her eyes and Death finally takes Fellig. ======================================================================

6.10 S.R. 819

US Airdate: January 17, 1999

writer: John Shiban

director: Dan Sackheim

The action begins in a hospital hallway, St. Katherine's Hospital to be precise (as in Dana Katherine Scully perhaps? We always knew she was a saint!). Dr. Katrina Cabrera walks swiftly down the hall as an intern fills her in on her patient's move from ICU (Intensive Care Unit) to trauma. He's not looking good, his vitals are dropping like stones. Dr. Cabrera tells the intern to call Scully at the FBI as the patient is a fellow agent ... and he's dying. Gasp! Not Mulder, surely! We see her looking down at her patient ... the camera scans up a nasty looking arm that appears to be ready to explode with a bad case of varicose veins throbbing like my head after a night out with ... oh, sorry, more info than you need. The camera pans further up the patient ... is it Mulder?! No, it's worse (for some of us anyway), it's .... their old boss, Walter Skinner, yikes! His face is covered with the same throbbing veins. The doctor leans down to try and hear him as his mouth moves in an attempt to speak. When the intern asks what he said, she says, "a name", and the machines next to him suddenly flatline. Nooooo! Not my Skinner! Do something, you fools! The intern's on the ball and prepares the defib paddles to shock him back to life. Dr. Cabrera, however, doesn't move from Skinner's side and refuses to move when the intern tells her to (you can't use the defib paddles when someone's touching the body). With no concern whatsoever for the best damn A.D. Mulder and Scully ever had, she says, "let him go". The camera closes in on Skinner's lifeless face, his eyes staring straight ahead as that spine-tingling flatline noise fills my ears ... beeeeeepppp ..... Teaser over, your webmistress now firmly perched on the edge of her chair, concerned her spoiler sources may have been playing with her pretty little head, we return to Skinner. More accurately, an extreme close-up of his brown eyeball. Really close, way too close if you want to disguise the makeup job. The camera pans backwards, revealing his face again, his lips cracked and chapped. Death doesn't stop him from finally performing his own voiceover (*sigh* Even when he's dead he has a voice to melt butter). He speaks of choosing sides in life, who to defend and protect, "Choosing by not choosing. Defending a center which cannot hold. So death chose for me." With this, a nurse pulls the blue hospital sheet over his head. He's dead, Jim. No, wait a minute, he's alive again and in a gym being suited up for a boxing match (sans the promised boxing trunks, grrrrr). Flashback alert, we're starting 24 hours before the teaser. As Skinner inserts his mouthpiece, he looks over at his opponent warming up next to the ring. Was that a homeless man walking by and bumping into the boxer's arm? Hmm .. just some guy with long hair and a beard, nevermind. The boxer enters the ring and starts duking it out with Skinner. He gets a few good shots in as the trainer coaches from the sidelines. Skinner and the other boxer get into a huddle/hug/clinch, whatever you call it in boxing terms. As he looks over his opponent's shoulder, Skinner's vision seems to blur. They unclinch and start to spar again. Skinner takes a hard shot to the right rib area, steadies himself on the ropes and looks out at the stands. As his vision blurs again, we see the same bearded man as before sitting and watching him. Skinner starts to spar again but now he's having trouble seeing the other boxer at all and shakes his head to clear his focus. Everything begins to move in slow motion as the boxer lands one to Skinner's jaw (the one time you don't clench, man, and look what happens!). He falls to the mat. The trainer rushes over and removes his headgear, trying to talk to him. We see from Skinner's point of view as everything goes fuzzy. The trainer's face is replaced by a nurse as he wakes up in the hospital. She makes a lame joke about not getting his ear bitten off (Mike Tyson ref), tells him to sit tight, Dr. Plant is on his way, and she leaves. He sits up, clears his head, looks at the clock on the wall, which reads 9:33, and his cellphone rings with an electronically-enhanced voice on the other end. "Have ... you heard ... the news? It's ... in ... you. You ... have ... 24 hours ... to go. You ... are ... already dead." At least it wasn't Candice Bergen trying to sell him cheap long-distance rates. The music swells slightly in the background and, gosh, it sounds familiar. Ah, yes, Mark Snow's score from The Movie, that's it (I have it practically memorized by now). Wonder what THAT means? Dr. Plant arrives and after a quick rinse of his hands at the sink (no soap?! Don't let him touch you, Walter!) goes to look over Skinner. He sits on the gurney, wincing in pain, as the doc reminds him that he's already examined him but Skinner doesn't remember. After checking his eyes with a penlight, the doc declares him raring to go (after a repeat of the same lame ear-biting joke), suggesting he curb the boxing as he's not 20 anymore (no, but I'll bet he could deck Mulder if need be ;-). Skinner's surprised to hear he checks out clean. The doc says he's fine but might want to ice that bruise. "What bruise?" The doctor lifts up Skinner's shirt and points out a huge bruise on his right ribcage, punctuated by a nasty, red mark that looks like a needle-point to my untrained eye. Neither Skinner nor the doc notice it, though. Cut to a little less than an hour later at the FBI Headquarters. We see Mulder sitting at his desk in the darkness (the lamp on his desk is on) flipping pencils at the ceiling (ala Chinga) and not succeeding as they fall back to earth. He looks up to see Skinner slowly walking past his window towards his own office, a hand on his side indicating he's still in pain. Having nothing better to do it seems, Mulder follows him and finds Skinner sitting on the couch in his secretary's area, his top few shirt buttons open, tie gone. Skinner then lies down slowly, his hand shielding his eyes from what little light there is coming from the hallway. Mulder smiles and asks if he's sleeping one off (meaning a drinking binge or partying too hardily. Like Skinner would really do that, phlease!). No, Skinner tells him, he just didn't want to drive as he's having trouble seeing, no big deal (the man's a rock!). Mulder receives no answer when he asks if the A.D. will be all right. Less than an hour later, the elevator opens and Scully sweeps into the hallway, her long coat billowing as she walks purposefully into Skinner's outer office area. Skinner's still lying prone on the couch, Mulder's perched on the edge of the secretary's desk and the lights are still off. Skinner insists that he's fine, Scully is told he's having trouble with his eyes and has a nasty bruise on his ribs so she kneels down to look. Mulder flicks on the desk lamp and shines it on the bruise for Scully to see. Not looking good, all bluish-purple, not what *I* want to see when that shirt is lifted! He tells her the doc at the hospital said he was fine as she lightly touches the bruise and he winches again. Mulder then tells her about the weird phone call Skinner received saying he had 24 hours to live. Skinner's sure it was just some nutbar's idea of a joke as he tries to get up and leave. Scully stops him with a gentle push back to the couch and checks his eyes. She asks if he's consumed anything that tasted metallic or otherwise odd in the last 48 hours, maybe we're dealing with poison. Did they take his blood? Sure, he says, and he's fine, besides, why would someone poison him then call him at the hospital? Mulder suggests they wanted to warn him and see where he turned for help. Skinner can't believe Mulder could be so paranoid and arrogant to assume this has anything to do with him (Mulder) or the X-files. They're not even working on the X-files anymore. But Skinner is, Scully reminds him (well we know Spender isn't, so I do hope someone is). Surmising that the poison could have been passed on by a mere touch or handshake, Mulder moves into interrogation mode and starts to question him about his activites that day. Did anything strange happen? Did he come in contact with anybody? Did he wake up alone? (see Avatar for when he woke up next to a dead hooker. That Mulder, just can't let something like that slide ;-) While he narrates we watch Skinner's slo-mo flashback of his day from when he arrives at the office. He exits the elevator, overhead lights gleaming on his dome as he strides down the hall (well, the episode's so dark otherwise I figure it's worth noting). Faces flash past us as the scene picks up with Skinner arriving in his office and saying "good morning" to his secretary. She replies with the same and we're back to present day Skinner on the couch. Mulder's not happy with this. Think, man, what else happened? The slo-mo flashback is replayed as Skinner gets off the elevator only this time he recalls a man stopping him to ask for the time. It's the man we'll soon know as Dr. Kenneth Orgel. He remembers him wearing a black leather glove and grabbing Skinner by his right wrist. As Skinner grasps and looks at his wrist, Scully warns him it may not have left a mark as some poisons are absorbed through the skin. Mulder asks what time this happened and the scene changes to the security video footage taken earlier that day. The time on the screen says 9:06 as Skinner walks through the front door's metal detector. At 9:07, Dr. Orgel walks through. They stop the tape as Scully recognizes him as an advisor to a Senate subcommittee on ethics and new technology. Uh-oh, you just know this isn't good. Skinner asks if he's a scientist and Scully says, "A physicist. Very well known, as far as physicists go." (the way she says this line really tickled me, no offense intended to Gillian) Mulder checks the log book and finds Orgel signed in as a visitor to Skinner's office but he has no idea why he'd be coming to see him. Scully's concerned that if *this* man poisoned him, he should be off his feet and under a doctor's care (umm .. you're a doctor, aren't ya, Scully? ;-) Skinner's not interested in lying around, he vows to find the doc and put a gun to his head 'till he gives him the cure. He storms out of the tech room. When Scully asks what hospital he went to, Mulder tells her St. Katherine's and leaves after Skinner. We see the wheels turning in Scully's scientific mind as the music swells. The tune sounds familiar as the scene cuts to an equally familiar-looking overhead shot of cars driving along a bridge. This time it's Chevy Chase, Maryland, instead of Montgomery County, Maryland, though. ... The Big Screen Movie, people, wake up in the back there! (When Mulder and Scully went to Bethesda, for those taking notes) We see Skinner banging on the door of a house, Mulder by his side. He winches as the overhead porch light is turned on and Dr. Orgel opens the door. The doctor says he has no idea who Skinner is, they must be mistaken about his visit to the FBI building and he closes the door. Mulder gives Skinner a yeah-right grin and pulls out his gun, telling him to go around back. Skinner's now taking orders from Mulder it seems as he heads off round the back of the house. Mulder bangs loudly on the door again. Dr. Orgel opens it and immediately tries to close it but Mulder heaves his shoulder into it. His attempts are fruitless though as a shot rings out from inside the house. It goes clean through the door and shatters the porch light above Mulder's head. He's thrown back from the door as he tries to duck and the door slams close. Curses, foiled again. But, fear not, through the back door with a mighty heave-ho, his gun drawn, comes Skinner. Moving pretty good for a "dead" guy! He makes his way down the hallway then sees a man taking Dr. Orgel hostage. Skinner points his gun at them, yelling, "Federal agent!". From behind him pops another man. He promptly whacks Skinner on the head, sending him to the floor. The bad dude kicks away Skinner's gun as he struggles to see what's going on, barely lifting his head off the floor as he nurses the back of his neck where he was hit. As the first bad guy walks by, still holding Dr. Ostel hostage, Mulder bursts through the now unguarded front door. He starts to run towards the downed A.D. but Skinner yells at him, "Go!" Now it's Mulder's turn to take orders. He heads out the back door as a shot pings off the door frame. Mulder sees the two men running through the backyard with the doctor, shooting back at him and the chase begins. Cue the music to swell again (three guesses what's still playing? There *will* be a quiz later, pay attention!). Mulder gets to the alleyway they disappeared down and hears a car starting behind him. He whirls around to see the men running towards their getaway car. His trenchcoat flapping in his wake, Mulder races after them and manages to tackle the second one (not the guy holding Dr. Orgel). Holding him down, Mulder looks up in time to see the other bad guy shoving the doc into the back of the car (license plate #EJP 259, whatever hidden message *that* may mean) and speeding away. He's disappointed, but at least he caught one of them. He yells at the man to drop his gun then grabs him by the coat collar and yanks him up off the ground. They begin to walk back to the doctor's house. Meanwhile, back at the house, Skinner tries to stand up but his legs give way beneath him and he falls, propping himself up in the doorway. The man's obviously in pain. The veins on the left side of his neck have begun to swell. He runs his hand gently over them as he turns to see Mulder bringing his prisoner back. He can barely tell it's them as his vision is beginning to blur. He stands up, still leaning against the doorway for support, and puts away his gun as Mulder reaches the front porch. With his prisoner yammering away at him in a foreign tongue, Mulder antagonizes the guy, saying, "Yeah, so's your Mom." Such a charmer, eh? Skinner starts checking the guy's pockets and finds a diplomatic passport. He tells Mulder to release him. The guy smacks away Mulder's arm as Skinner tells him he can go. He doesn't stick around and takes off at a good trot. Mulder's right ticked now. Skinner tells him he can't wait around for the police and their questions, Mulder will have to deal with 'em. The man's name is Alexander Lazreg and he's the cultural attache with the Tunisian mission there in D.C. "See what else you can find out about him." (Pencils down, folks, Tunisia ... hint, hint) Mulder eyes the throbbing veins on Skinner's neck and tells him he really needs to get to a hospital. "No. I'm trying to stay out of one." Skinner leaves. Mulder turns to watch him, distressed at how weakly Skinner's moving. Cut to St. Katherine's Hospital, approximately an hour and a half later. Onscreen, the countdown has begun. Skinner has 20 hours and 29 minutes remaining. We see Scully walking down a hallway with Dr. Plant, the man that last examined Skinner. They walk into a lab, Dr. Plant picks up a chart from the wall as Scully tells him his patient may have been poisoned. The doc's shocked, poisoned by who? She doesn't know and isn't even sure what she's looking for. According to Dr. Plant, as he makes a lame attempt at a joke about the government's lousy health care plan, Skinner's samples haven't been touched. Scully walks over to a fridge full of blood vials and pulls one out. Luckily, as we're so pressed for time, it's Skinner's. The doc's all nervous about letting her touch them without a written release from the patient. (Did she bother telling him she's a doctor?!) We don't have time for that, Scully says, and neither does Skinner. She holds up one of the vials, inspecting it in the fridge light. Something is not right as it appears a black substance has settled in the bottom of the vial. Dr. Plant assures her the vials have probably not been touched at all. Scully's brow gathers in concern as she stares at the black stuff. Cut to Dr. Orgel's house, Mulder sitting at a desk in the office, papers and folders spread out before him. He's looking through everything, tossing them onto the floor when he's done. A uniformed cop walks in and expresses his concern for Dr. Orgel's belongings and preserving any evidence they may hold. "I'd be a lot more concerned with the preservation of Dr. Orgel." Mulder says as he spots something in the trashcan. He pulls out what looks to be a proof sheet of pictures and recognizes someone. A smile spreads across his lips, "Hello, Senator." The camera zooms in to show Senator Matheson (last seen in Nisei) and Dr. Orgel smiling, their hands displaying an official-looking paper between them. Next we see Scully and Dr. Plant running some tests on Skinner's blood sample. They watch the results on a computer screen as a red line climbs on a graph. Dr. Plant is stunned to discover it's pure carbon. "How in the world would that get into his bloodstream?" More importantly, as Scully asks, "How is it working as a poison?" She places some more of the sample under a high-tech microscope and they both look up at a screen displaying the magnified image. Small dark circular objects are bouncing back and forth among the other lighter circles. Suddenly the objects multiply before their eyes ... then they multiply again ... Dr. Plant taps away at the keyboard to zoom in on the image they can't believe they're seeing. Close-up, the dark objects now look like eight-legged bugs or cogs with an eye-like design on their "backs". Dr. Plant speaks for us all. "What the hell are they?" It's now 4AM as Mulder is being let into Senator Matheson's stately looking mansion by a butler. As he goes upstairs to collect the senator, Mulder waits impatiently. Shortly, the senator comes downstairs, tying up the belt around his bathrobe and chastising Mulder for the lateness of the hour. He seems to have aged a great deal since we last saw him. Mulder whips out the picture he pulled from Dr. Orgel's trashcan. It was taken a mere three days ago, he tells the senator, and he asks him about the paper they're holding; Senate Resolution number 819, what's that all about? Matheson tells him it's a funding bill, why? "A friend of mine is going to die because of S.R. 819. I don't know how, I don't even know why but I'm betting you do." What little evidence Mulder has right now seems to lead to a plot to kill an Assistant Director of the FBI. Does that make sense? But the senator's not biting. He tells Mulder the bill will provide money and supplies to the World Health Organization, medical technology to third world countries. How dare he accuse the senator of being involved with such dark intrigue. Mulder pleads with him, Skinner may only have a few hours left! "My intention is to save lives, Fox, but I can't save his." He holds the door open for Mulder, indicating he's overstayed his welcome. "Good night, Fox. Drive safely." Crestfallen that his old ally seems to have turned his back on him, Mulder slowly walks out the door. An hour later, the Tunisian man released earlier pulls his car, the same one used in the kidnapping, into a parking garage. As he drives up to the machine and receives his ticket, the music begins to "tinkle" in the background (you know which music ... specifically the track called "Facts". Download a sample for comparison purposes here <http://members.xoom.com/oroborus12/facts.wav>). A moment later, Skinner pulls in behind him and retrieves his own ticket. What is this man doing driving a car when he was so sick 5 hours ago?! He pulls in in front of the parked car, checking the licence plate number. The car appears deserted so he settles in to wait. The veins in his neck are getting worse. He grimaces in pain and adjusts the rearview mirror to check them. Suddenly a bullet punctures a hole in his windshield. We see the Tunisian man standing and pointing a gun. Skinner falls out of our view. What are they doing to him now?! Cautiously, with his gun still trained on the car, the Tunisian walks toward it. In a flash, Skinner pops up and fires off two rounds as the Tunisian ducks and then runs off. In pain and supporting himself against the car door, Skinner gets out to look for him. His breathing erratic, he stumbles through the aisles, scanning back and forth in search of his quarry. He loses his focus again, the cars blurring. He has to slow down as he tries to concentrate and clear his vision. From behind him, the Tunisian trains his gun on Skinner's back but before he can squeeze the trigger, a car squeals around the corner surprising them both. Wham! It slams into the Tunisian, killing him instantly, and rolls him off its hood. Skinner tries to focus again as the car passes by. For a brief second we see a blurred but definitely bearded man driving the murder weapon. Barely able to stand now, Skinner falls against the hood of a nearby car, causing a massive dent as the alarm system begins to wail its warning. See? Skinner really IS "solid as a rock" after all! About an hour later, we join Scully in the lab at St. Katherine's Hospital still working on the blood sample with Dr. Plant. She seems to have finally made a breakthrough. The carbon they found is not only reproducing itself, she says, but it appears to have behavior and is creating something, "a matrix stimulated by blood flow in response to movement." It is building valves or dams in Skinner's vascular system. Dr. Plant's shocked again. "It's building a heart attack." he says ominously. A nurse enters to tell them the paramedics have picked up a Walter Skinner and are taking him to D.C. General. Odd, seeing as how the opening teaser had him "dying" at St. Katherine's. Cut to an operating room in D.C. General where Dr. Cabrera is now working apparently. Must be short-staffed, I guess, so she wanders aimlessly from hospital to hospital pronouncing ADs prematurely dead and trying to hack off their arms ... somebody stop her, take away her licence before she strikes again! Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. Ahem. We cut to the emergency operating room of D.C. General. Skinner's on the table and a nurse is swabbing his arm for some reason. Dr. Cabrera studies some x-rays as another doctor stares at the mass of veins before him, wondering how it's possible the man's still alive. Glancing down at Skinner for a second, (what constitutes an examination for this quack, I'm sure) Dr. Cabrera sends a chill down my spine with her immortal words ... "We'll take the left arm first." Noooooo! ... A nurse wheels in a tray full of nasty, sharp instruments including a hacksaw-like tool. Nooooo! ... Dr. Cabrera picks up a scalpel, directing the nurse to mark above his bicep. Someone stop this madness! I'm having Krycek flashbacks from Terma here! Stop her! The door finally opens as my breath leaves my body. It's Scully, with Dr. Plant tagging along, come to save her boss in the nick of time, whew. The other doctor challenges her and Dr. Cabrera tries to have them tossed out but Scully wins the day and the surgery is stopped before it gets out of hand ... ouch, bad pun. Next we see the blinding lights in the hallway as Scully walks beside Skinner's gurney being wheeled to another room. He struggles to lift his head, but can't hold it up and gives in. He asks her who did this to him and she assures him Mulder is trying to find out. In the meantime, they'll do everything they can to help him. He has a brief flashback of being knocked down in the boxing ring, Dr. Orgel grabbing his wrist and then the Tunisian man being killed in the garage. He whispers, "I don't know. I can't remember." Scully looks on with concern as they load him onto the elevator. More than 2 hours later, the FBI Building. Why is Scully walking into Skinner's outer office with a handful of mail? And with her hair cut all wrong, tucked behind her ears? Oh, wait, nevermind, it's Skinner's secretary. She hears noises coming from the boss' office and slowly opens the door to find Mulder tearing apart the desk area, papers flying everywhere. He can't open one of the drawers and asks her for a key. She wants to know what the heck he's doing and he tells her Skinner's been poisoned "for doing his job." (nothing like breaking it to them gently, Mulder). No time to waste with explanations, Mulder's looking for anything relating to S.R. 819, he says. "If you want to save his life, you'll help me open this drawer." She doesn't have a key so he goes to her desk to find a letter opener. As he picks it up, he notices the morning mail, one envelope in particular sticking out like a sore, veiny, thumb. The oversized one with the fancy-schmancy Senate stamp on it. Mulder grabs it and rips it open, pulling out a piece of paper he reads intently. He can barely hear the concerned secretary's query, "Is he going to be all right?" Next we cut to Scully in some fetching burgundy colored hospital scrubs (oooh-la-la!) going over Skinner's charts. Mulder arrives and stands outside the door, waiting to talk to Scully outside of Skinner's earshot. Scully's worried, he's not stable and it's not looking good. "His blood has become a weapon against his body." They'll keep lasering his arteries open, she says, but it's building walls faster than they can tear them down and they just don't have the technology to fight it. "Maybe we do." Mulder pulls out the paper he took from Skinner's office. Senator Matheson's office address is readable, Skinner's address is listed below it. He tells her that Skinner was doing a security check on a Senate bill for violation of trade laws involving sensitive technology. But that's just routine, Scully counters, the FBI must do dozens a year. But this bill was going to vote in the Senate, just waiting for Skinner's review and Dr. Orgel's analysis. Scully asks if he's saying Dr. Orgel poisoned Skinner to cover up his analysis? According to Mulder, no, Dr. Orgel didn't poison anybody. He came to tell Skinner about a gross violation of export laws involving new technology. "New technology." Scully repeats, her mind reeling with possibilites. In the distance, a cellphone starts ringing. Mulder checks his pocket but it's not his. A nurse comes out of Skinner's room and hands Mulder a phone. "It was in his pants pocket." Aren't they illegal in hospitals? Mulder answers and hears the same electronic voice as before. "Might as well ... give up. You ... can't ... stop it." He hands the phone to Scully saying someone must know Skinner is here and he heads off in hot pursuit. The voice continues: "Walter Skinner ... your time ..." (we now see the words being printed on a hand-held screen hereby known as The Palm Pilot Of Death) "... is almost up". Mulder looks around the hospital hallway. He sees a ragged character with long dirty hair and a beard hunched and writing intently. The man peeks up through his hair, spotting Mulder and he begins to walk away. Mulder shouts at him to stop so, of course, the man starts to high-tail it outta there. He chases him down the stairwell and into the parking garage, losing him in the process. Mulder pulls out his gun as he enters the parking deck. He scans the cars, the camera spinning in circles around him as a light flickers above his head. Suddenly he hears a sound and whirls around armed and ready to shoot. It's just a blonde nurse arriving for work. He waves her on and continues the search. A car squeals into life and Mulder watches as the bearded man drives off. He half-heartedly gives chase on foot but it's useless. As that wonderful music continues to swell in the background, Mulder dashes back up the stairwell, arriving at the car's exit ramp only to find the car crashed and holding up traffic. The bearded man is nowhere to be seen. An angry woman yells at Mulder in Spanish, obviously ticked about the broken gate. Outside in the bright sunshine, we come across Senator Matheson driving in his car (alone? no chauffer?). His cellphone rings and it's the bearded man calling from a phone booth. Hardly any effort made to disguise his voice, *now* you know who it is, right? The man warns the senator that the bill is in danger, a new threat has emerged and "blood will be on your hands." The senator appears shaken but he keeps his cool saying he doesn't buy into the bearded man's hollow threats. "Well, Dr. Orgel does. You can ask him." He offers to tell the senator where to find the kidnapped doc and soon after he hangs up the phone. Next we find Mulder talking to a technician at the FBI impound garage. They've been looking at the car Mulder brought in. It's leased to the diplomatic counsel corps and they couldn't find much evidence other than a couple of human hairs from an expensive wig. Mulder looks at the evidence bag and spouts out one of the more unfortunate Mulderisms to date, "Don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful." The only other thing of interest were the scrapings from the tires. They found PCBs of levels not seen since the '70s, "Right before the EPA got fangs." The tech hands Mulder a vial of the scrapings and tells him they may have come from an old power plant. Mulder inspects the vial closely. Cut to a car pulling into what appears to be an abandoned power plant. Its license plate, S4578, fills our screen then the driver gets out. It's Senator Matheson. He opens the old, creaky door to the building as a flock of pigeons flaps in his face, startling him. He walks through the building, looking for something or someone and comes across a door. He opens it, his body framed in the doorway by the light streaming in behind him. In the near-darkness of the room, he walks toward a man strapped to a table, a light from above highlighting him. The door creaks closed behind him. As he gets closer to the man, we see it's Dr. Orgel in the same condition as Skinner, his veins displayed prominently. Matheson begins unstrapping him as Orgel begs him to hurry, telling him they think Orgel has exposed them to the FBI. "I told the FBI nothing.", Dr. Orgel says, "Please, I promise not to expose anyone." In another part of the room we see the bearded man in the shadows, manipulating his Palm Pilot Of Death. The doctor screams in pain and Matheson backs away from him, not sure what's happening. We see from the bearded man's viewpoint as a cone shape on his display screen begins to fill in. The more it fills up, the louder Dr. Orgel yells and the more the veins on his head throb madly. Senator Matheson looks on in horror as the screams fill the air. As the scene changes to Skinner's hospital room, the onscreen countdown continues. He has 3 hours and 56 minutes remaining. Scully walks in and he smiles weakly at her. The poor fella looks awful. She's come to tell him about a radical procedure she'd like to try whereby his blood would be completely filtered out of his body, therapeutic plasmapheresis. There's a chance he may go into shock. Skinner quietly says what will be one of my new Start sounds ... "I'm in your hands." *swoon* Pardon me, back to the plot. With his time ticking down, Skinner figures he has nothing left to lose and offers up a deathbed confession to Scully she finds hard to swallow. He apologies for not being a better ally to her and Mulder. "Your quest ... it should have been mine." He feels his life had no purpose, "If I die now, I die in vain." Groan, I really hope that wasn't supposed to be a pun, awful timing, Skinner! She protests, "You've been our ally more times than I can say." and gently touches his wrist. Her touch sends Skinner flashing back again to when Dr. Orgel grabbed him in the hallway. "I remember now." he blurts out. Although he can't see the man's face, he sees all the places he remembers the bearded man. In the stands at the boxing ring, walking past his hospital room, driving the killer car and even in the FBI hallway when Orgel asked for the time. The tape, Scully, he's on the security tape! She races off to check, hope faintly shining through the darkness. Mulder's car pulls up to the old power plant and he parks next to Senator Matheson's vehicle. As he gets out, he studies the license plate, obviously recognizing it. He enters the building and takes out his gun as he walks through the flock of fearless pigeons. He's drawn to the same door which Matheson spotted and opens it slowly, gun drawn in anticipation. We see a lone figure standing by the now empty table. It's Matheson, not the man Mulder was looking for, he says. He tells Mulder that Dr. Orgel is dead but he doesn't believe him, "You lied to me this morning; you're lying to me now." The senator tells him to drop it but Mulder's riled now and yells that he must know what Orgel knows, his friend is dying! Whatever Orgel knows dies with him, he's told, but Mulder's not taking this garbage and grabs Matheson by his coat lapels, shouting in his face, "Tell me what you know, Senator! This is about S.R. 819, isn't it? What the hell did they put in Skinner?" The senator pushes him away saying he must have some idea by now. "It's the same technology that S.R. 819 will export.", Mulder says in realization. You betcha, the senator confirms, "Technology that the world believes is purely theoretical." Mulder stands in shock, drinking it all in before saying the word aloud ... "Nanotechnology. Microscopic, atom-sized machines." As Senator Matheson pleads that he has nothing to do with this, he's merely a victim as well and if Mulder pursues this, they'll kill him too, Mulder storms out. "I will stop this!" The camera shows us the clock on the hospital wall reading 9:32. We're back to the teaser as that nasty Dr. Cabrera says "Let him go." The orderly looks up at the clock, "Call time of death, 9:33." A nurse pulls the sheet over Skinner's lifeless form and the camera leaves the room as we see the display screen for the Palm Pilot Of Death. The cone-shape we saw earlier is filled in, then we watch as it quickly "unfills", disappearing completely. Now what?! The monitors in Skinner's room suddenly come to life and with a gasp from beneath the sheet, so does Skinner. WHEW! Dr. Cabrera pulls back the sheet as Skinner struggles to breathe. She looks over at the orderly with a sheepish look which says, "We are never to speak of this again or I'm taking you down with me!" (poetic licence, this isn't in the script ;-) As they check his condition, Skinner turns his head and sees the bearded man standing outside his room's window. Their eyes meet briefly. A food cart passes between them and the man disappears. Time has passed, it's now 3 weeks later as we join Mulder and Scully is Skinner's office. The A.D. is back to his old self, looking fit as a fiddle and twice as fun ;-) We can't help but get the warm and fuzzies seeing our agents seated in front of their old boss' desk, just like the good old days. Scully smiles warmly as she relates what his doctors have said, that Skinner's prognosis is excellent and his recovery is being hailed as a miracle. Mulder's a happy camper as well but it's back to business as he hands over two pictures Scully pulled off the security video of the bearded man. Skinner glances at them briefly but hands them back saying he doesn't recognize the man. Mulder's taken aback then tells him that S.R. 819 was withdrawn last night without any explanation. Skinner proclaims this as good, the man failed, but Mulder counters that he doesn't believe this was the man's intention. Why call Skinner to warn him if he wanted to poison him? The man worked for the same government that was going to receive the technology (Tunisia), drove one of their cars and killed one of his own in order to *save* Skinner. The A.D. can't believe Mulder still believes this is connected to the X-files, but he says he does and he thinks he knows who's behind it but will need Skinner's authorization to continue. A pregnant pause fills the air as we await Skinner's word. It's not coming as he tells them he has neither the authority nor the will to allow any continued inquiry. "You'll perform your duties as directed by A.D. Kersh and only A.D. Kersh." The agents stare at him, surprised at this reversal of Skinner's loyalty. What happened to the man that "confessed" to Scully? His final words to them: "This matter's closed, Agents. Am I clear?" Mulder and Scully just look at each other, resigned to yet another dead end. Later we watch Skinner enter the FBI parking garage and walk toward his car, using the remote control to unlock it. He sits for a moment in the driver's seat then senses someone in the back seat. Skinner says he's been expecting him to show up. The left thumb of a figure in the darkness closes the lid on the Palm Pilot Of Death. The bearded man is no longer bearded, we can see his shape in the dark. "You know I can push the button any time." Without turning around, Skinner says, "What do you want from me? What's this about, Krycek?" as the man finally reveals himself as that no-good-for-nuthin-but-we-can't-help-loving-him Ratboy, Alex Krycek! "All in good time." he says quietly then exits the car. Skinner sits in his car, wondering what his life has become now and who he'll need to answer to. He starts the car and begins to leave. Fade to black ... ====================================================================== 6.11 Two Fathers

US Airdate: February 7, 1999

writers: Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter

director: Kim Manners

THE AGENTS SEARCH FOR ANSWERS WHEN CASSANDRA SPENDER MYSTERIOUSLY REAPPEARS.

Inside a stockyard in Arlington, Virginia, a surgeon escorts Dr. Openshaw inside a train car containing a surgical bay. Openshaw approaches an operating table, on which lies a patient, her face unseen. The surgeon congratulates Openshaw on his work, some 25 years in the making, which is now a success. The surgeon exits the train car, only to be lit afire by a Faceless Man. The rest of the surgical team, waiting in a nearby van, are also incinerated. A Faceless Man enters the surgical bay and thrusts his weapon at Openshaw, burning him. The creature then looks upon the operating table… where an unconscious Cassandra Spender lies.Skinner escorts Agent Spender to the stockyard. He explains that a group of people were burned alive, and that only his mother, and a critically injured man, survived. Spender sees his mother in a nearby paramedics vehicle and goes to her side. Cassandra asks to speak with Mulder. Moments later, Spender tells Skinner that he objects to the idea of Mulder's involvement in the case. But Spender changes his mind, and reluctantly informs Mulder of his mother's request to speak with him. Mulder tells Spender to find the truth himself. Meanwhile, the Cigarette Smoking Man approaches Openshaw, who miraculously survived the fire and has been confined to a plastic tent inside a hospital. Openshaw tells him that Cassandra is a success, and must be terminated before the alien colonists find out that a human/alien hybrid exists. Shortly thereafter, the Cigarette Smoking Man kills Openshaw. The Cigarette Smoking Man telephones Elder #1 to inform him about an emergency meeting of the Syndicate. Elder #1 promises he will make the meeting. He makes his way to the front door… only to find Openshaw standing on the other side. Elder #1 grabs at the impostor's face, exposing a faceless rebel beneath. A struggle ensues, and the Elder is killed. Scully and Mulder decide to meet with Cassandra without informing Spender of their action. Miraculously, Cassandra pushes back the covers and lets her legs fall to the floor. Scully looks on, incredulous, as the previously wheelchair-bound Cassandra walks without assistance. Cassandra tells the agents that surgeons worked in conjunction with the aliens to cure her. She now believes that the aliens are plotting to take over the universe by infecting all life forms with a black virus. The surgeons were burned by another race of aliens-faceless rebels-who mutilated their faces so they wouldn't be infected. Cassandra now believes that her son's life is in danger, as he is in collusion with men who have worked with the aliens. In flashback, some 35 years earlier, Openshaw, Bill Mulder, and the Cigarette Smoking Man enter a train car containing a Native American test subject. The Native American's face, arms and body are horribly disfigured. Repulsed, Bill Mulder exits the train car. As the disfigured man is their best effort, both the Cigarette Smoking Man and Openshaw believe they must ally with the aliens if they ever hope to create a human/alien hybrid. Back in the present day, the Syndicate members, including Krycek and the Cigarette Smoking Man, gather for the meeting. Elder #1 suggests an alliance with the alien rebels, something completely at odds with everything the group has strived for. After the meeting, Krycek informs the Cigarette Smoking Man that Mulder paid Cassandra a secret visit. Scully and Mulder sneak into Mulder's old office, where they access computer files on Cassandra Spender, her son, and the Cigarette Smoking Man, who is identified by the name "C.G.B. Spender." But the computer has no additional information on the mysterious man. Moments later, Skinner warns the agents that they are about to get caught. Before Mulder and Scully have a chance to escape, they are confronted by Spender. Later, Spender informs his father that Mulder and Scully will be processed out of the FBI. He then asks for the truth about his mother. The Cigarette Smoking Man tells him that Cassandra has been involved in a very important experiment. But he does not elaborate further, as Spender must prove himself capable of the responsibility that comes with such knowledge. Meanwhile, Scully performs some research. She learns that Cassandra Spender was first abducted on the night of November 27th, 1973… the same night Mulder's sister was abducted. The Cigarette Smoking Man tells Spender about Elder #1's death. He instructs Spender to kill the imposter using a gimlet weapon. Krycek drives Spender to Elder #1's home. Unfortunately, Spender cannot muster the nerve to carry out his assignment. The Elder #1 imposter sees the gimlet in Spender's hand and attacks him. Krycek comes to Spender's rescue, driving the gimlet into the imposter's neck. Afterward, a Iago-like Krycek informs Spender that his father directed the experiments forced on Cassandra. Spender realizes he is being asked to protect his mother so the experiments can continue. Back at the hospi