Apocrypha

The teaser for this ep is really interesting for one good reason; the flashback to the original salvage heroes in the hospital for radiation burns, being attended to by young Bill Mulder and CSM! If we weren't sure of their relationship before, now we definitely know that they used to work together. Mulder's dad was a co conspirator.

Wild!

Meanwhile, back in the present (heh), Scully kicks ass trying to protect Skinner in the hospital and Mulder tries to make a deal with alien-oil-infused Krycek. He's less than helpful, but he does give Mulder a key to the locker that contains the sought-after digital tape. Of course, he won't tell him where that locker is...

He also manages to get the two of them run off the road by some men in black. Fortunately, sort of, Krycek can radiate the fuck out of those goons, but he basically takes off and leaves Mulder for dead.

He wakes to a smiling partner in a hospital bed. 

M: Guess I'm not dead.

 

She tells him he's in good company because their boss is here too. He'll be fine, she says, but the real kicker is when she tells him the identity of the would-be assassin- Melissa's killer.

Scully visits Skinner next; he tells her he feels like someone has been inside his stomach redecorating. Then she shares her discovery with Skinner:

SK: I bet you had to work to get that, huh?

S: Yes I did, you don't seem surprised.

SK: Three men came to see me a few days ago, they warned me about pursuing your sister's murder investigation.

S: Do you realize what you're saying sir?

SK: I'm not advancing any conspiracy theory here Scully. 

S: You're saying, that they closed down my sister's case not because of lack of evidence but because they didn't want us to catch the killer.

SK: You should be very careful about the accusations that you make.

S: The man who shot you.. you said that you've seen him before.

SK: Several months ago, he was one of the men who attacked me in the stairway,with Krycek.

S: He was working with Krycek?

SK: They're the ones who stole the digital tape from me.

S: Damn it! Krycek; Mulder had him. 

Speaking of redecorating, Mulder has been doing some in their office.

I am not sure if Scully likes the new look.

M: It looked great on me in the store. 

Mulder explains in detail his theory about the oil that the suit is covered in; how it's a host for an alien being to enable this alien to body jump

M: I think that Mrs Gauthier went to Hong Kong under the control of this thing (Scully laughs at him) to find Krycek. (starts to laugh at himself self-consciously) I know, I know how it sounds.

Scully continues to laugh a bit, but she's not laughing at his crazy theory; she's laughing because every little thing keeps leading back to Krycek.

 

S: Is anybody not looking for Krycek? 

Mulder sends the Lone Gunmen on a super covert mission to recover the digital tape. Really, anything funnier then the gunmen skating; Langley in his rock T-Shirts, Byers in his suit, Frohike in his toque! Gold.

Frohike opens the locker and finds a large padded envelope containing... the empty case that would have had the tape in it if Krycek weren't such a sneaky rat bastard. The case may be empty, but it's not a completely failed mission- they manage to pull an impression of a phone number off of the envelope- it belongs to the consortium! Skillfully done!

Krycek pays CSM a visit, who in turn visits the consortium. He's offered to give the alien in Krycek the UFO/salvage. He's decided, without the group's permission, to move it to a silo as a 'safeguard' against the French who've been looking for it. What he's actually doing is setting a trap for Krycek. That renegade. Everyone's out to get him, and with good reason.

When the room clears, the phone mysteriously rings. 'Hmm..  wtf? That's not possible', thinks WMM. Mulder swings a face to face meeting with him; both hoping to trick the other into betraying their secrets, and hopefully find Krycek. It's so interesting to watch a man with so much power have to bluff his way  through a conversation with the man who's out to put an end to his grand scheming. Even more interesting is watching him try to recover when Mulder calls his bluff, and realizes these powerful men are not the all-knowing beings Mulder assumed them to be.

After the meeting, Mulder calls Scully, asking her to check on Skinner's guards. He has good instincts; the guards have up an left because Skinner is being transferred. Scully joins Skinner for his ambulance ride, which is cut short by the assassin jumping on board and attempting to finish the job. Scully has the dual pleasure of rescuing her boss and also finally shoving a gun in this guy's face. Too bad the cops show up and prevent her from shooting him. 

Total bullshit. She checks back in with Mulder.

S: It's him Mulder, the man who shot my sister.

M: Scully..

S: Mulder listen to me, he said he knows where Krycek is. I don't know if this makes any sense to you, he says he's headed towards an abandoned missile site somewhere in North Dakota. 

M: (suddenly urgent) I want you to meet me at the DC airport in an hour, I want you to get two tickets on the first flight for North Dakota.

S: What's in North Dakota?

M: The salvaged UFO.

In shades of Paper Clip, M & S run through dark tunnels looking for evidence of aliens and conspiracy. As if to confirm for them that they are on the right track, they are chased down by men with guns. This time they don't get away; they are loaded into a van and confronted by their old enemy. 

CSM: There's nothing here but holes in the ground Mr Mulder.

M:  You can't bury the truth! 

But he can bury Krycek.  Poor effing guy.

Poor Scully too. She visits her sister's gave with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Mulder pulls up, and as he gets out of the car, Scully bites her lip, like she's bracing herself to hold her emotions in front of her partner.

Mulder has brought flowers for Melissa too; he runs his hand down Scully's back he places them on her sister's grave. She seems to appreciate both gestures; the flowers and the comforting human touch.

S: I was just thinking about something that a man said to me. That the.. that the dead speak to us from beyond the grave, that that what's conscience is.

M: It's interesting, I never thought of it that way.

S: You know I thought... when we found him, this man that killed Melissa, that..that when we brought him to justice, I would feel some kind of closure. But the truth is no court.. no punishment is ever enough.

M: I came here to tell you something. (he links his arm with hers)There may be some justice, just not the kind you're looking for.

S: What are you talking about?

M: They found this man, Luis Cardinal, dead in his cell.

S: How?

M: They made it look like a suicide. 

A sweeter justice, I cannot imagine. Well, except maybe Scully pulling the trigger herself.