Patient X

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PLOT: When people gather at random sites for no unknown reason and are found burned to death, Mulder and Scully investigate and discover that Scully may have the key to the answer they seek.

This first of a two-parter is both intriguing and informative. It not only brings about the conspiracy of alien colonization to a more richer explanation, but it highlights the individual concerns of our two heroes. After the events of Redux, Mulder is questioning his own beliefs of the existence of extraterrestrials versus an insiduous government conspiracy. While Scully is again faced with her own abduction experience and the metal chip in the back of her neck.

The main thing I liked about this episode was the fact that it starts to explain the plans of the Syndicate to a level that is actually believeable! With all the odds and ends that Chris Carter has been throwing out to fans up to this point, it seemed as though the agenda of the "conspiracy", whether it was something that a rogue faction of the government had been implementing or this Syndicate of old men with obvious political influences, never seemed to make full sense. Kritschgau's tale to Mulder about a government conspiracy seemed feasible enough. Of course, if you ever saw Oliver Stone's movie, "JFK", then you know ANYTHING can be possible if enough people are around to perpetuate a lie. Yet, as much as I want to believe in one theory or another of aliens in regards to the mythology, I was always more interested in what Mulder thought.

In this episode, we see that Mulder is doubting his own belief system that he has had faith in for a very long time. He is first shown at some kind of forum sitting with a panel of experts regarding abductees. He disagrees with his fellow panelists regarding their opinions of "Patient X", who sincerely believes that she is a multiple alien abductee. Mulder believes that the real truth is an elaborate government cover-up involving biological weapons and using UFO lore of "little green men" as a way to quell an overly curious public. He believes "Patient X" is telling the truth, because she was "programmed" to believe a lie. To say that his fellow panelists and the audience were stunned would be an understatement.

Mulder's sudden reversal into the "skeptic" role alarms both Scully and Skinner when their latest investigation of apparent alien abductees are found burned to a crisp. Due to the fact that metal chips were found on the burnt corpses that appear strikingly similar to Scully's own hardware, Mulder brings up the point that Scully's abduction may not have been of an extraterrestrial nature, but of a more terrestrial government conspiracy kind. Even though Mulder believes that the victims' implants were what lead them to Skyland Mountain, he doesn't understand why they were killed. If it was a government agenda, it wouldn't make sense in the whole scheme of things as this was a very public execution that was not covered-up quietly. At this point Mulder wasn't aware of the similar deaths in Kazakhstan shown at the beginning of the episode. If he knew, then he would have to admit that someone else triggered the events.

When Scully reads the file of "Patient X", Cassandra Spender, she sees disturbing similarities to her own abduction three years earlier. Yet, Cassandra's own son, (the always annoying) Agent Spender, believes that she is not all there. An opinion that Mulder surprisingly agrees with after meeting Cassandra. It's interesting to note Mulder's reaction to Cassandra when she tells him that he is her personal hero and her belief that the aliens are trying to deliver some kind of message to the people of Earth. He acts as if he is seeing what other people have seen in him all these years prior to his change in beliefs.

So what does this all mean? Basically, Carter and company are using a "switcheroo" plot where Mulder is the devout skeptic and Scully is the conservative believer. It's unusual to actually believe that Scully is STILL even a skeptic at this stage considering her own paranormal experiences up to this point. Yet, not once did Scully ever admit to anyone, particularly Mulder, that she whole-heartedly believed that she was abducted by aliens and that Cassandra Spender and people like her also shared the same experience. In fact, Cassandra's story intrigued her enough to actually pay her a visit when Agent Spender specifically asked Scully to not get her mother involved. It shows how much her abduction experience affected her that Scully would follow a lead even though her partner questions Cassandra's credibility.

Of course, other factors were in this episode that can't be ignored. The biggest was Krycek. His motives have never been shown to be anything other than self-interest, and he perpetuates that notion here. Krycek discovers that the Russians have a vaccine to the black oil (hinted at in Tunguska). He infects a young boy who was a witness to the Kazakhstan massacre as a trading chip to the Syndicate for their own research for a vaccine to the black oil. This is never explained as to why Krycek would even need this, but it's an intriguing plotline. We get to see the Syndicate engaging in damage control and Mulder's informant, Marita Covarrubias, as a player who is willing to betray any allegiances she may have to help Mulder. Unfortunately, her betrayal also makes her a victim of the black oil.

This all leads to an interesting ending as we see another group of people inexplicably showing up at a bridge including one wheelchair bound Cassandra Spender. I must admit that the production work on this scene was top-notch. The special effects with the lights and the ship and the fire were very anxiety-ridden to watch but highly effective. Scully's appearance at the bridge along with her interaction with the other people reminded me of a dream where you are just observing things around you without getting directly involved. Her astonishment at witnessing an actual UFO hovering above her was highly convincing. When she sees Cassandra, the dream-like sequence changed effectively to the nightmare of people being burned alive. It was very much a "white knuckle" type ending that only made me want to jump ahead to the next episode.

Overall, the pacing and style of the episode was excellent. Nothing seemed to be rushed and all the characters involved were given ample screen time to help explain their presence in a particular scene. But the best part was the interactions between Mulder and Scully, particularly when it came to the obvious tension regarding their always differing viewpoints on the case. Yet, Carter and company decide to change it up where Mulder is no longer the fanatical believer that we all know him to be. While Scully is no longer questioning her experience other than wanting to know why she was abducted. The act itself is a moot point for Scully as she sees a kindred spirit in Cassandra Spender. However, as the episode ends, will this also be the death of her?

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