DEADALIVE

In the seventh-season finale "Requiem", FBI special agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) was abducted by aliens. in the eighth-season premiere "Within", John Doggett (Robert Patrick) took his place on the X-Files, and worked with Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) to find Mulder. In "This Is Not Happening", Scully, Doggett and FBI assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) discovered several returned abductees. Although nearly all were in critical condition, a UFO cult, led by the mysterious Absalom (Judson Scott), was using Jeremiah Smith's (Roy Thinnes) healing powers to treat the abductees. Scully headed to their compound, only to discover Mulder's deceased body in the woods.

Three months after Mulder's funeral, Doggett is offered a transfer from the X-Files. He realizes that if he leaves, the office will be closed, as Scully will soon be on maternity leave. Meanwhile, a fishing trawler finds the decomposing body of Billy Miles (Zachary Ansley)—an alien abductee who was taken at the same time as Mulder. When Miles revives on the autopsy table, Skinner, despite Doggett's objections, orders that Mulder's body be exhumed and brought to a hospital, fearing that he may have been buried alive. When the casket is opened, a decomposing Mulder, contrary to all scientific expectations, shows weak vital signs.

Meanwhile, Scully notices that Miles (now on life support) has two heartbeats. At the FBI, Deputy Director Alvin Kersh unsuccessfully tries to convince Doggett to stop investigating Mulder's apparent death. A short while later, as Skinner walks down a hallway, Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) activates nanobots that he had previously placed in Skinner's bloodstream as blackmail. Skinner stumbles in pain, and in an elevator, Krycek reveals himself and explains that he has a vaccine which could save Mulder's life. However, he will only give it if Skinner can ensure that Scully does not give birth to her baby for reasons that he does not disclose. Later, alone in his hospital bed, Miles regains consciousness and goes to take a shower. While doing so, his decaying flesh falls away, revealing a healthy body beneath. He tries to persuade Scully and Doggett that the aliens who abducted him are trying to save humanity. Scully, however, gets a lab report which reveals that Miles's DNA has substantially changed; he is now a new being. Skinner later tells Scully that there is a cure for Mulder's disease, but does not explain Krycek's demands.

From her medical findings, Scully discovers that an alien virus is keeping the abductees alive long enough to cause a radical genetic transformation to take place, similar to the one that Miles experienced. After Scully tells Doggett about the transformation, he visits Absalom, who believes that the abductees are being resurrected into aliens who will eventually conquer Earth. Skinner—torn by his decision—decides to euthanize Mulder by pulling him off of life support so that Krycek does not get his way. Doggett, however, catches Skinner in his attempt. Skinner explains Krycek's demands, but Doggett argues that both options are unreasonable because either Scully's child will die, or Mulder will succumb to the virus. Doggett tries to locate Krycek in the parking lot of FBI Headquarters, but Krycek nearly runs him down with a car and destroys the vaccine before escaping. Dejected, Doggett returns to the hospital and tells Skinner he was right not to trust Krycek. He finds Scully preparing Mulder for the now-destroyed vaccine; she tells Doggett that keeping Mulder on life support was hastening the virus, and that Skinner effectively saved Mulder's life by pulling him off. She states that she will be able to use a combination of antiviral drugs to kill the virus if they can get him and his temperature to stabilize.

Later, Scully is sitting by Mulder's bedside when he regains consciousness. He stares blankly at Scully, and asks, "Who are you?" At first, Scully thinks that Mulder does not remember her. However, she quickly realizes that he is actually playing a practical joke. They laugh, and Mulder asks, "Did anybody miss me?" Scully responds with tears. Later at the FBI, Kersh expresses his disappointment that Doggett did not take his advice to abandon Mulder's case and rescinds his offer to promote him. Doggett indicates that he will continue to work on the X-Files with Scully and Mulder

Copyright(c) 2007 - 2025. All rights reserved