Anasazi = "ancient aliens"
A computer hacker gains access to top secret Defense Department files and contacts the Lone Gunmen to set up a meeting with Mulder. He says the files contain info from the 1940's to the present proving the existence of extraterrestrial life and the government's knowledge of it.
Bill Mulder asks if his son is in danger to which CSM replies, "I've protected him this long, haven't I?"
... Mulder hears a shot ring out. He runs in to find his father dying on the floor in a pool of blood. "Forgive me," are his father's final words as he dies in Mulder's arms.
When she tries to explain that she doesn't think he's guilty, he accuses her of "taking your little notes" all this time as a spy. He tells her, "You've got my gun. You've got my files. Don't ask me for my trust."
"He killed my father, Scully," Mulder shouts and as he goes to shoot, Scully shoots him in the shoulder preventing him from firing.
When CSM has the boxcar searched there is no sign of Mulder inside. CSM gives an order to burn it, and as the helicopter lifts off, we see the burning boxcar but no sign of Mulder.
But as Albert Hosteen said about the Anasazi, "Nothing disappears without a trace."
Skinner stops her and tries to tell her that the men that killed Mulder and his father will be brought to justice. In a scathing response, Scully says, "With all due respect sir, I think you overestimate your position in the chain of command."
As Scully enters and exits the FBI building through the main entrances, she sets off the metal detection device and the hand scanner seems to pin-point a spot at the base of her neck. When she has the metal fragment removed she finds what appears to be a small, computer chip.
... he is visited by Deep Throat and his father who urge him to continue his quest...not to give up if he wants to learn the truth. Mulder asks his father if Samantha is with him and he says no...
As she leaves the service, she is approached by a man who is part of the shadowy, syndicate or consortium that CSM meets with in NY. He is known as the Well Manicured Man and seems to be the man with the most power in the group.
Melissa, arrives at Scully's apartment, surprising two gunmen who are waiting inside to kill Scully. She is shot in a case of mistaken identity, by two men, one of whom is Krycek and another man who will be referred to as the Hispanic Man.
Albert Hosteen tell[s] of the birth of a white buffalo. He says it is a powerful omen in Native American stories and speaks to great changes on the horizon.
The picture, from the 1970's, includes a man named Victor Klemper, a Nazi scientist who was allowed to come to the US after W.W.II, avoiding prosecution for his war crimes in return for research knowledge. The agreement was code named Operation Paper Clip.
They appear to contain standard medical files including small pox vaccination records and tissue samples. The files go back into the fifties and Mulder locates Scully's file and Samantha's. As he peels back the nametag on Sam's file, he finds his own name underneath.
As he rushes to the roof, he is in time to see a huge spaceship slowly and quietly, pass over the building. As he gazes up into the bright lights, it disappears overhead
He tells Mulder that following the Roswell incident in 1947, foreign scientists began collaborations to design an alien/human hybrid. The files in the mountain vault, were extensive genetic records collected through smallpox vaccines to begin creating a catalogue of millions of people. He tells Mulder that his father was part of the data collection until he began to balk, at which point Samantha was taken to ensure his silence and cooperation.
Mulder tells Scully that they've both lost so much but that he's sure the truth still lies in the X-Files. Scully says, "I've heard the truth. Now what I want are the answers."
Anasazi (Season 2 finale, part 1 of 3)
The title refers to an tribe of Indians who disappeared from
the Southwest and are known as the Anasazi, or "ancient
aliens". They disappeared from the historical record 600
years ago and some think they were abducted by "visitors who
come here still." The episode opens on a Navajo reservation
in New Mexico with an earthquake which unearths a metallic
object buried in the ground. A local boy discovers a corpse
that looks less human than alien. An elder on the
reservation says, "They will be coming."
A computer hacker gains access to top secret Defense Department files and contacts the Lone Gunmen to set up a meeting with Mulder. He says the files contain info from the 1940's to the present proving the existence of extraterrestrial life and the government's knowledge of it. When it's realized that the files have been breached, a series of phonecalls go out internationally to alert the break-in of the "MJ files". The US link in this phone network is CSM who says, "It's been taken care of." The hacker meets with Mulder and gives him the files on a digital computer tape saying he wants Mulder to let the truth be known. Mulder takes the tape to work but when he tries to open the files he finds them encrypted. He flips out in a violent over-reaction which has Scully worried but Mulder tells her he just hasn't been sleeping much. She tells him Skinner wants to see him. When Mulder goes to talk to Skinner, he blows up again, getting in a few punches right in the Bureau hallway. As Scully looks at the encryption, she recognizes long strings of consonants and tracks down a Navajo code talker from W.W.II who did encryption for the government. The man is named Albert Hosteen, and is the elder we saw at the opening of the episode.
Scully is called in front of an FBI panel of her superiors to answer for Mulder's behavior. She tells them that he hasn't been sleeping. They ask about the tape and she denies knowledge placing herself in danger of dismissal along with Mulder. She finds Mulder asleep at his apartment in even worse shape...edgy and irritable. She tells him the files on this tape better be worth all this since it could cost them their jobs. Meanwhile, we see an interesting, unexpected development. CSM pays a visit to Bill Mulder to inform him of the breach of the MJ files. Apparently, they were associates in the past, involved in work that is detailed in the Defense Department files. Bill Mulder asks if his son is in danger to which CSM replies, "I've protected him this long, haven't I?" Mulder has put up a masking tape X to summon Mr. X but before any contact is made, he receives a call from his father asking him to come to the house to talk; that it's important. When he arrives, his father hugs him and tells him he has things from the past to tell him. It seems like a confession as he tries to get the words out. He tells Mulder he'll soon hear and understand the meaning of certain words like "the merchandise" but before he continues, he goes into the bathroom to take some medication. As he stands over the sink, we see Krycek's reflection in the mirror just before Mulder hears a shot ring out. He runs in to find his father dying on the floor in a pool of blood. "Forgive me," are his father's final words as he dies in Mulder's arms.
Scully goes looking for Mulder at his apartment and is grazed by a bullet through the window, shot from the road below as a car speeds away. Mulder calls to tell her of his father's death and she asks him to come to her apartment. His place isn't safe after the shooting and the cops and FBI will think him responsible for his father's death. While he's still asleep she takes his gun to test for ballistics to help prove his innocence. She also goes to retrieve the bullet from Mulder's apartment and while there discovers a filter on his water supply which has been delivering drugs into his drinking water. This is responsible for his erratic behavior. Before she can tell him, Mulder awakens and calls her, pissed off that she took his gun. When she tries to explain that she doesn't think he's guilty, he accuses her of "taking your little notes" all this time as a spy. He tells her, "You've got my gun. You've got my files. Don't ask me for my trust." Mulder heads back to his apartment and sees someone lying in wait. Without his gun, he sneaks around and cuts off the person knocking the gun from his hand. It's Krycek and Mulder, holding Ratboy's own gun on him, tells him to admit to killing his father since he's going to kill him anyway. But Krycek doesn't give and just as Mulder goes to shoot him, Scully arrives and tells Mulder not to fire. "He killed my father, Scully," Mulder shouts and as he goes to shoot, Scully shoots him in the shoulder preventing him from firing. Krycek takes the opportunity to make an escape.
When Mulder regains consciousness, he's in New Mexico where Scully has driven him to speak with the Navajo code talker, Albert Hosteen. She tells Mulder about the drugs in his water and that she shot him to prevent him from shooting Ratboy since if he did, and Ratboy's gun was the same one that killed his father, there would be no way to prove that he wasn't responsible for both shootings. [Smart Scully and a good shot too.] She tells Mulder that she's returning to Washington since she skipped a meeting with Skinner so he's on his own with the MJ files. Albert has already unencrypted some of the files and she has seen her own name in them along with Duane Barry's. Her name is in reference to some test and she tells Mulder that she needs him to find out what it means. Albert tells Mulder that he knew he was coming and that he has something to show him that might help him. Mulder receives a phonecall from CSM warning him off and telling him that whatever he finds, he should keep in mind that his father authorized the project. What Mulder finds is a buried refrigerator train car with a pile of alien corpses inside. At least they look more alien than human although some appear to have a vaccination scar on their arms. He calls Scully from inside the boxcar to tell her what he's discovered. She says that Albert has decoded more words from the files, words like "vaccination" and "merchandise". As Mulder is forming a horrible realization, he hears a helicopter and CSM arrives on the scene and his phonecall to Scully is cutoff. When CSM has the boxcar searched there is no sign of Mulder inside. CSM gives an order to burn it, and as the helicopter lifts off, we see the burning boxcar but no sign of Mulder. To Be Continued...
The
Blessing Way (part 2 of 3)
Season 2 left us with CSM zipping off in a helicopter over
the burning remains of the refrigeration car and Mulder
nowhere to be found...disappeared without a trace. But as
Albert Hosteen said about the Anasazi, "Nothing disappears
without a trace." Having her phone conversation with Mulder
cut-off, Scully drives out to the reservation and finds the
burnt remains of the boxcar, but no Mulder. When she heads
to the Hosteen residence, she finds that CSM and his
black-ops team have beat her there and the bruised and
bloodied Hosteen family tell her that they told him nothing,
but don't know Mulder's whereabouts either. As Scully drives
out of town, she is stopped by a helicopter which lands on
the road in front of her and black-ops lackeys get out and
demand for her to turn over her files and the DAT tape. She
tells them that Mulder has the tape but turns over her hard
copy. When she returns to Washington, she is called in to a
meeting in front of her superiors where they question her
and threaten her over Mulder's disappearance. She tells them
that to her knowledge, Agent Mulder is dead and he died for
the info on the DAT. They suspend her and as she exits,
Skinner stops her and tries to tell her that the men that
killed Mulder and his father will be brought to justice. In
a scathing response, Scully says, "With all due respect sir,
I think you overestimate your position in the chain of
command." Ouch. When Scully checks the hiding place where
Mulder stashed the tape in his office, she finds the tape
missing.
Meanwhile, CSM meets up in a shadowy, smoky room in NY with a group of men as they discuss the missing tape and its effect on their work. CSM assures the others that the tape will be recovered, costing only a few entries on the obituary page. Frohike, one of the Lone Gunmen, shows up a bit tipsy at Scully's door in the middle of the night to share his loss of Mulder. He shows her a newspaper clipping that reports the execution style killing of the man who hacked into the Defense Department files in the first place. Thinking that ballistics and other forensic evidence could link the murder with Bill Mulder's thereby clearing Mulder, Scully asks for a meeting with Skinner. He accuses her of trying to bring in evidence to clear the partners and ensure her re-instatement. She says she only wants the truth and thought he would too...to which he replies that she "underestimates his position in the chain of command." Skinner tells her to go home and let the FBI do its job. As Scully enters and exits the FBI building through the main entrances, she sets off the metal detection device and the hand scanner seems to pin-point a spot at the base of her neck. When she has the metal fragment removed she finds what appears to be a small, computer chip.
In New Mexico, vultures alert the residents of the reservation that something is close to death on the desert floor. Albert, remembering a similar situation when he was a boy, finds Mulder's body at the mouth of a tunnel leading away from the boxcar, all but covered with rocks and debris. His body is laying next to the corpse of one of the boxcar's earlier, alien occupants who was not as lucky. Near death, Mulder is carried to a shelter and undergoes a ritual known as the Blessing Way. In a dream state, he is visited by Deep Throat and his father who urge him to continue his quest...not to give up if he wants to learn the truth. Mulder asks his father if Samantha is with him and he says no...that Mulder must go and continue his search for the truth. Eventually, Mulder awakes from the healing sleep and slowly regains his strength with the help of Albert Hosteen.
Scully, worried about the implant she has found in her neck, talks with her sister Melissa about the implications and is encouraged to go to a session of hypnotherapy to recover the memories of her abduction. She resists but succumbs to her sister's wishes, at least to give it a chance. When she attends her first session, she seems to be on the verge of some memory of her abduction and the place where she was held, but she's frightened and resists, finally apologizing to the therapist before walking out. As she arrives back at her apartment, she sees Skinner coming down the walkway and driving off in his car. That night, Scully awakens from a dream where Mulder appeared to her and told her that he was returning to her and their work. Scully attends a burial service for Bill Mulder and takes a moment to tell Mrs. Mulder that she has a "feeling" that Mulder is alive. As she leaves the service, she is approached by a man who is part of the shadowy, syndicate or consortium that CSM meets with in NY. He is known as the Well Manicured Man and seems to be the man with the most power in the group. He tells Scully that her life is in danger. That they will try to kill her one of two ways...two men will come to her apartment and kill her, or it will be someone she knows and trusts. When asked by Scully who he is, he tells her he is part of a consortium representing global interests and he is "helping" her because he feels some of the members are acting impulsively. She doubts the altruistic nature of his interference. He tells her their business is to predict the future, "And the best way to predict the future, is to invent it."
Mrs. Mulder returns from her husband's funeral to find Mulder at her house. She is overjoyed at his safe return but after a brief hug he is more interested in learning about his father's business and his associates from the past. Mulder finds a box of pictures from years ago that show a younger version of his father with several other men, some of whom are recognizable as CSM, Well Manicured Man, Deep Throat and other consortium members. When pressed, Mulder's mother says it was too long ago and that she doesn't remember anything. When Scully gets home from the funeral, there is a message from Melissa on her machine saying she's curious how her hypnotherapy went. Scully calls her back and tells her she can come over to talk. Just after hanging up, Scully's phone rings again and thinking it's Melissa she is surprised to hear an empty connection. Remembering the warnings from WMM, she quickly calls Melissa back and getting no answer, leaves a message telling her that they should meet at Melissa's instead and that she is on her way and will try to intercept her. But as she exits her building, she is met with Skinner who demands that Scully get in his car so that they can go somewhere to talk. Recalling the warning that it might be somebody she trusts who is sent to kill her, Scully gets in Skinner's car with her gun in easy reach. Melissa, arrives at Scully's apartment, surprising two gunmen who are waiting inside to kill Scully. She is shot in a case of mistaken identity, by two men, one of whom is Krycek and another man who will be referred to as the Hispanic Man. When they realize their mistake, they drop the weapon at the scene and beat a hasty retreat. Scully takes Skinner to Mulder's apartment as neutral territory, but as she lets him into the apartment, forcing him to enter first, she pulls her gun on him and forces him with his hands up to enter and sit on the couch. As she trains her gun on him, Scully asks who sent him, who is he a trigger-man for. He says nobody sent him, that he didn't come to kill her. He says he has the tape Mulder had hidden in his office. Just then, they both are distracted by the sound of footsteps outside Mulder's door, and as Scully's attention is diverted, Skinner pulls his gun and the episode ends in a tense stand-off, with Scully and Skinner aiming guns at each other's heads. To be continued...
Paper
Clip (part 3 of 3)
The third part of this trilogy opens with a voice-over by
Albert Hosteen telling of the birth of a white buffalo. He
says it is a powerful omen in Native American stories and
speaks to great changes on the horizon. Scully and Skinner
are in the stand-off we left them in at the end of part two.
Skinner is demanding that Scully lower her gun and she is
refusing. Very tense. Suddenly, the door burst open
revealing Mulder with his gun drawn and trained on Skinner.
Taking only time to ask the shocked Scully if she is all
right, Mulder demands that Skinner give Scully his weapon
and turn over the tape. Mulder tells Skinner that his
cigarette-smoking friend killed his father for that tape,
and tried to kill him...that he was a dead man, but now he's
back. Skinner eventually turns over his weapon, but tells
Mulder that if the tape is so important, they need to be
careful it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Mulder agrees
to leave the tape in Skinner's care, then leaves with a
shell-shocked Scully to find "answers that aren't on that
tape." Mulder and Scully take the picture of the consortium
members found at the Mulder home to the Lone Gunmen to see
if they can identify any of the men. The picture, from the
1970's, includes a man named Victor Klemper, a Nazi
scientist who was allowed to come to the US after W.W.II,
avoiding prosecution for his war crimes in return for
research knowledge. The agreement was code named Operation
Paper Clip. The Lone Gunmen tell Mulder and Scully that the
project was supposedly scrapped in the 1950's but some form
of it appeared to be underway as late as the date of the
picture. Mulder wonders aloud what his father was doing with
these men. Just then, the absent Frohike arrives with the
bad news that Melissa Scully has been admitted to the
hospital in critical condition. Scully starts to rush off to
the hospital until Mulder stalls her telling her that if
they truly are trying to kill her, she will be walking right
into a trap.
Meanwhile, CSM is being called on the carpet at a meeting
of the consortium. How could he let an innocent civilian be
killed as a result of an incompetent mistake...and where is
the tape he said would be retrieved? Mulder and Scully are
simultaneously visiting the consortium's old colleague,
Klemper, who is unwilling to reminisce but tells them they
should look at an old mining company (the backdrop for the
picture Mulder found at his parents') and provides them with
a clue to an access code. After they leave, Klemper calls
WMM and tells him that Mulder has just visited him. WMM now
knows that CSM has lied about Mulder being dead and
questions him about the DAT tape. CSM tells them he has the
tape hidden away safely and can bring it to show them the
next day. They all seem eager to see proof of this tape, no
longer trusting CSM. At the hospital, Mrs. Scully arrives
having heard that her daughter was shot but, expecting to
find Dana, is shocked to hear that it is her other daughter
Melissa who lies in critical condition with a gunshot wound
to the head. Albert Hosteen arrives, carrying a message to
Mrs. Scully from her daughter and prays over Melissa.
Skinner calls a meeting with CSM and tells him he "may have
located the tape" and CSM tells him he doesn't work deals.
When Mulder and Scully arrive at the mining company, they
find that it now houses in its depths, a mountain vault
filled with row upon row of filing cabinets. They appear to
contain standard medical files including small pox
vaccination records and tissue
samples. The files go back into the fifties and Mulder
locates Scully's file and Samantha's. As he peels back the
nametag on Sam's file, he finds his own name underneath.
Also of note, the tissue sample containers are of two types
depending on the time they were taken. The older files
contain cassettes from the fifties, but both Scully's and
Samantha's contain the more recent sample container. As they
sit perusing Sam's file, the lights in the vault suddenly
dim and go out. Mulder rushes back to the entrance, leaving
Scully among the files. As she shouts after Mulder, she is
suddenly aware of a noise as several small, alien appearing
creatures rush past her in the dark, knocking her flashlight
from her hand and exiting at a door at the far end of the
corridor. Mulder, meanwhile, reaches the front of the mine
and sees a bright light cruising over the building. As he
rushes to the roof, he is in time to see a huge spaceship
slowly and quietly, pass over the building. As he gazes up
into the bright lights, it disappears overhead and he is
simultaneously aware of the approach of a fleet of cars.
Rushing back to the vault entrance, he avoids crossfire from
a black-ops team and meets up with Scully who points them in
the direction of the rear entrance as they make their escape
into the night. On the run, Mulder and Scully set up a meet
with Skinner at an out of the way cafe. He tells them that
he can trade the tape for their lives, future safety and
reinstatement to the FBI. Mulder says no, that everything he
has worked for is on that tape. Scully says that the truth
isn't worth much if it costs them their lives...they will
always be on the run, outside the law. More importantly, she
needs to see her sister. Mulder leaves the decision up to
Scully, and she tells Skinner to make the deal. Skinner
stops by the hospital to tell Scully's mother that she is
safe and should return home soon. While there, Albert tells
him that men have been watching Melissa's room just as one
of the men cruises past. Skinner follows the man to a
stairwell, where he is ambushed by the man and two others,
Krycek and the Hispanic Man. He is garroted and beaten as
they steal the DAT tape off him. As Krycek and his
compatriots leave the hospital, one of them makes an excuse
to stop and the two leave Krycek in the car alone. He
suddenly feels a set-up and, looking at the car clock,
notices it's blinking "12:00". Realizing the car is wired,
he leaps from the car and runs, escaping the explosion by
mere seconds. Krycek is now on the run.
The partners return to see Klemper, but find WMM instead and are informed that the ex-Nazi is dead. Without admitting any guilt in Klemper's death, WMM says he will answer Mulder's questions. He tells Mulder that following the Roswell incident in 1947, foreign scientists began collaborations to design an alien/human hybrid. The files in the mountain vault, were extensive genetic records collected through smallpox vaccines to begin creating a catalogue of millions of people. Scully tells him not to trust WMM, that he's telling him exactly what he wants and expects to hear. She claims that the scientific knowledge didn't exist to conduct such experiments that long ago...and besides, why would her file be there. Mulder claims the recent files, including Scully's, are from abductions. She does not want to listen to what he is suggesting and walks away. Mulder goes to his mother's house and wakes her up to ask if his father ever forced her to make a choice. She doesn't want to speak of it, but when forced to, she says no...she couldn't choose. That Bill chose, and she hates him for it...even now, she hates him in his grave. Krycek calls CSM to tell him that he's alive and that he has the DAT tape. He warns CSM to steer clear of him and cease any further attempts on his life. CSM lies to the consortium, telling them that Krycek has been eliminated and that the tape was destroyed in the car bomb. CSM then meets with Skinner who tells him he will deal; the tape for the safety of Mulder and Scully. CSM tells him he won't deal and that he knows Skinner doesn't have the tape anyway. He threatens Skinner's life by mysterious circumstances, but as he turns to go, Skinner tells him he's not through yet. Shocked at this statement, CSM asks "What is this?" Skinner replies, "This is where you pucker up and kiss my ass." He tells CSM that he may not have the tape but that Albert Hosteen has read all the information from the un-encrypted files and has passed it on to 20 members of his community in the oral tradition. With this dissemination of the information, CSM can never be sure of its existence or eradication. CSM thinks Skinner is bluffing but can't be sure. Skinner tells him, "Welcome to the wonderful world of high technology." Meanwhile, Scully sits in Melissa's empty hospital room. Melissa has died and Scully is afraid that Melissa doesn't know how sorry she is...that it should have been her. Mulder tells Scully that they've both lost so much but that he's sure the truth still lies in the X-Files. Scully says, "I've heard the truth. Now what I want are the answers."
