After season two’s cliffhanger, 15-year-old me spent the entire summer believing that Mulder was actually dead. That the series would have to continue without him. How naïve I was. In an era of television where a new season of my favorite television show could be counted on each fall like the inevitability of the first day of school, I truly believed that the sci-fi show that was changing television would really kill off one of its main characters. Fortunately, I was wrong.
Season three’s two-part premiere proved that Chris Carter and Fox did not have the true audacity to kill off their lead. This wasn’t The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones. Up until David Duchovny’s contract ending at the end of season seven, neither he nor Gillian Anderson would take leave of the show for more than a couple episodes. Not that this would make the life and death situations the agents found themselves in any less exciting.
The first of the two episodes, The Blessing Way, follows Mulder as he is found nearly dead by the very Native Americans who helped him at the end of season two. He is nursed back to health on the Navajo Indian Reservation whilst he has visions of Deep Throat and his father who want him to recover and discover the truth of his investigations.
Meanwhile, The Smoking Man meets with The Syndicate who question who has the tape that a hacker associated with The Lone Gunman had stolen and passed on to Mulder. Season three ends up being the perfect mix of monster of the week episodes and conspiracy episodes, so this two-part premiere keeps these side characters fresh in our minds right from the beginning even if their parts are limited. Member of the Lone Gunman, Frohike is the one to break the news to Scully that the hacker was found dead.
Agent Scully is caught with copies of the tape from the previous episode but denies having the original and is put on leave. When exiting the metal detector afterwards, she discovers the implant placed at the back of her neck during her abduction in season two. She has removed it and upon further investigation, finds that it is a computer chip. Scully’s sister urges her to see a hypnotherapist to recover memories of her abduction.
When Scully attends Mulder’s father’s funeral (he was killed by Alex Krycek in the season two finale), she is approached by a member of the Syndicate known as the Well Manicured Man. He informs her that she is about to be killed by someone she knows. Later, when Skinner wants information from her, she guides him to Mulder’s apartment and believes that he is the one about to kill her. While Scully is away from her home, her sister arrives but is shot by a man with Alex Krycek, and the bullet was really meant for Scully. Even as Skinner admits he has the digital tape originally in Mulder’s possession, he and Scully both hold their guns on each other.
As this episode ends, trust is in short supply.
The second part of this two-part episode is Paper Clip, which refers to information about Operation Paperclip found in those digital files that set this whole plot in motion. Mulder finds Scully and Skinner holding guns at each other at his apartment, and demands Skinner return the tape to his possession. Skinner keeps it saying it’s their only leverage.
The agents take an old photo of Mulder’s father with members of the Syndicate to The Lone Gunman who recognize a known Nazi scientist, Victor Klemper, within the photograph and was brought to the United States for Operation Paperclip. This is when Frohike informs Scully that her sister is in the hospital. The agents visit Klemper and he sends them to where the photo was taken but then gives the Well Manicured Man a call.
The Syndicate is furious with The Smoking Man that Scully wasn’t shot, and demand he produce the tape. When the Well Manicured Man discovers that Mulder is still alive, this puts The Smoking Man in a more difficult position as trust in him wanes.
Mulder and Scully arrive at an old mining facility in West Virginia where miles of file cabinets contain smallpox vaccination records. It is here that Mulder discovers that he was originally meant to be abducted as a child. Outside, Mulder is lured outside by a noise and sees a UFO flying overhead as Scully sees small people running past her within the mine. Armed soldiers arrive causing the agents to flee.
Meanwhile, Skinner visits Melissa (Scully’s sister) in the hospital and discovers a man in a suit waiting. He gives chase and is attacked by Alex Krycek who steals the tape from him. Afterwards, Krycek nearly escapes an attack on his life as the car he was riding in explodes.
As this three-episode arc ends, Mulder and Scully visit Klemper again only to find the Well Manicured Man there. He informs them that Mulder’s father found out of the Syndicate’s plan to gather genetic data for a post-apocalyptic identification system and that Samantha was taken to silence him.
At the end, Skinner tells The Smoking Man that if either Mulder or Scully are harmed in relation to the tape, two dozen members of the Navajo Nation will release the information publicly. This silences the man for now and allows Mulder and Scully to return to the X-Files for the foreseeable future.
The underlying themes of this three-episode arc delve into how scientists reworking human genetics without thinking about the consequences helps erode public trust in science. This is shockingly poignant given our current political climate during which well known science on vaccines and health data is being undermined by conspiracy theory. Scully remains the outlier on the show, using her medical and scientific knowledge to find actual truths buried in the conspiracy. It is part of what makes her such a great character.
The writers and creators of the show used inspiration from Star Wars for how Mulder discovered who his father really was. They also likened how being forced into choosing between Samantha and Fox to the Meryl Streep film Sophie’s Choice.
While these inspirations are front and center, I personally like the use of the imagery and context of the white calf when Melissa Scully was dying of her gunshot wound. The man who helped heal Mulder showed up to help Melissa at the hospital, and he seemed to believe that her life was connected to a white buffalo calf born on their reservation. As the calf’s life dwindled, so did that of Melissa even after they thought both would make a full recovery. The use of Native American folklore and beliefs is one of my favorite themes throughout the series.
This three-episode arc laid the real groundwork for the rest of the series. It solidified Walter Skinner as an ally who faced as much threat to his life as Mulder and Scully did and it showed the Syndicate was not as unified as they seemed. There were flaws within their plan. As much as Scully still maintains her reluctance to believe in some of their paranormal cases (by season three, this became a bit annoying after everything she had seen), she also became a bigger thorn in the side of the Syndicate. She was brought in originally to get in Mulder’s way. Instead, she became his ally. Now that both Mulder and Scully have lost family members to Alex Krycek’s gun wielding hand, their need for the truth has only become stronger.
Until next week, the truth is out there. And so is Alex Krycek.
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Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
After season two’s cliffhanger, 15-year-old me spent the entire summer believing that Mulder was actually dead. That the series would have to continue without him. How naïve I was. In an era of television where a new season of my favorite television show could be counted on each fall like the inevitability of the first day of school, I truly believed that the sci-fi show that was changing television would really kill off one of its main characters. Fortunately, I was wrong.
Season three’s two-part premiere proved that Chris Carter and Fox did not have the true audacity to kill off their lead. This wasn’t The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones. Up until David Duchovny’s contract ending at the end of season seven, neither he nor Gillian Anderson would take leave of the show for more than a couple episodes. Not that this would make the life and death situations the agents found themselves in any less exciting.
The first of the two episodes, The Blessing Way, follows Mulder as he is found nearly dead by the very Native Americans who helped him at the end of season two. He is nursed back to health on the Navajo Indian Reservation whilst he has visions of Deep Throat and his father who want him to recover and discover the truth of his investigations.
Meanwhile, The Smoking Man meets with The Syndicate who question who has the tape that a hacker associated with The Lone Gunman had stolen and passed on to Mulder. Season three ends up being the perfect mix of monster of the week episodes and conspiracy episodes, so this two-part premiere keeps these side characters fresh in our minds right from the beginning even if their parts are limited. Member of the Lone Gunman, Frohike is the one to break the news to Scully that the hacker was found dead.
Agent Scully is caught with copies of the tape from the previous episode but denies having the original and is put on leave. When exiting the metal detector afterwards, she discovers the implant placed at the back of her neck during her abduction in season two. She has removed it and upon further investigation, finds that it is a computer chip. Scully’s sister urges her to see a hypnotherapist to recover memories of her abduction.
When Scully attends Mulder’s father’s funeral (he was killed by Alex Krycek in the season two finale), she is approached by a member of the Syndicate known as the Well Manicured Man. He informs her that she is about to be killed by someone she knows. Later, when Skinner wants information from her, she guides him to Mulder’s apartment and believes that he is the one about to kill her. While Scully is away from her home, her sister arrives but is shot by a man with Alex Krycek, and the bullet was really meant for Scully. Even as Skinner admits he has the digital tape originally in Mulder’s possession, he and Scully both hold their guns on each other.
As this episode ends, trust is in short supply.
The second part of this two-part episode is Paper Clip, which refers to information about Operation Paperclip found in those digital files that set this whole plot in motion. Mulder finds Scully and Skinner holding guns at each other at his apartment, and demands Skinner return the tape to his possession. Skinner keeps it saying it’s their only leverage.
The agents take an old photo of Mulder’s father with members of the Syndicate to The Lone Gunman who recognize a known Nazi scientist, Victor Klemper, within the photograph and was brought to the United States for Operation Paperclip. This is when Frohike informs Scully that her sister is in the hospital. The agents visit Klemper and he sends them to where the photo was taken but then gives the Well Manicured Man a call.
The Syndicate is furious with The Smoking Man that Scully wasn’t shot, and demand he produce the tape. When the Well Manicured Man discovers that Mulder is still alive, this puts The Smoking Man in a more difficult position as trust in him wanes.
Mulder and Scully arrive at an old mining facility in West Virginia where miles of file cabinets contain smallpox vaccination records. It is here that Mulder discovers that he was originally meant to be abducted as a child. Outside, Mulder is lured outside by a noise and sees a UFO flying overhead as Scully sees small people running past her within the mine. Armed soldiers arrive causing the agents to flee.
Meanwhile, Skinner visits Melissa (Scully’s sister) in the hospital and discovers a man in a suit waiting. He gives chase and is attacked by Alex Krycek who steals the tape from him. Afterwards, Krycek nearly escapes an attack on his life as the car he was riding in explodes.
As this three-episode arc ends, Mulder and Scully visit Klemper again only to find the Well Manicured Man there. He informs them that Mulder’s father found out of the Syndicate’s plan to gather genetic data for a post-apocalyptic identification system and that Samantha was taken to silence him.
At the end, Skinner tells The Smoking Man that if either Mulder or Scully are harmed in relation to the tape, two dozen members of the Navajo Nation will release the information publicly. This silences the man for now and allows Mulder and Scully to return to the X-Files for the foreseeable future.
The underlying themes of this three-episode arc delve into how scientists reworking human genetics without thinking about the consequences helps erode public trust in science. This is shockingly poignant given our current political climate during which well known science on vaccines and health data is being undermined by conspiracy theory. Scully remains the outlier on the show, using her medical and scientific knowledge to find actual truths buried in the conspiracy. It is part of what makes her such a great character.
The writers and creators of the show used inspiration from Star Wars for how Mulder discovered who his father really was. They also likened how being forced into choosing between Samantha and Fox to the Meryl Streep film Sophie’s Choice.
While these inspirations are front and center, I personally like the use of the imagery and context of the white calf when Melissa Scully was dying of her gunshot wound. The man who helped heal Mulder showed up to help Melissa at the hospital, and he seemed to believe that her life was connected to a white buffalo calf born on their reservation. As the calf’s life dwindled, so did that of Melissa even after they thought both would make a full recovery. The use of Native American folklore and beliefs is one of my favorite themes throughout the series.
This three-episode arc laid the real groundwork for the rest of the series. It solidified Walter Skinner as an ally who faced as much threat to his life as Mulder and Scully did and it showed the Syndicate was not as unified as they seemed. There were flaws within their plan. As much as Scully still maintains her reluctance to believe in some of their paranormal cases (by season three, this became a bit annoying after everything she had seen), she also became a bigger thorn in the side of the Syndicate. She was brought in originally to get in Mulder’s way. Instead, she became his ally. Now that both Mulder and Scully have lost family members to Alex Krycek’s gun wielding hand, their need for the truth has only become stronger.
Until next week, the truth is out there. And so is Alex Krycek.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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