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"DeadAlive" is the fifteenth episode of the eighth season of The X-Files.
Synopsis[]
Shortly after Mulder is buried, a former abductee's deceased body returns and is miraculously resurrected, offering hope for Mulder's recovery. Meanwhile, Krycek threatens Skinner that he must kill Scully's unborn child.
Summary[]
Three months after Dana Scully, John Doggett, Walter Skinner and The Lone Gunmen gathered for Fox Mulder's funeral in Raleigh, North Carolina, Doggett is transferred off the X-Files. If he leaves, the office will be closed since Scully is on maternity leave.
In the meantime a fishing trawler catches a body in the water off Cape Fear, North Carolina, which is later revealed to be that of Billy Miles, who had been abducted at the same time that Mulder was. Fearing that they had buried Mulder alive, Skinner gets his body exhumed at a hospital. Dr. Lim, Mulder's attending doctor, said that he had little chance for survival since his body was decomposing. In the meantime, Scully notices that Miles has two heartbeats. Kersh tries to persuade Skinner to stop investigating Mulder's apparent death.
When Skinner walks down an FBI hallway, his veins in his neck bulge making him stumble. It is revealed that Alex Krycek was behind this. Krycek reveals that he has the vaccine that could save Mulder's life, but he will only give it to Skinner if Scully does not give birth to her baby. In the meantime, Miles regains consciousness, he takes a shower, and his decaying flesh sloughs away, revealing a healthy body beneath the decaying. Miles later tries to persuade Scully and Doggett that the aliens are trying to save mankind. Scully gets a new lab report which states that Miles has literally became a new person. Skinner later reveals to Scully that there is a cure for Mulder's disease, but doesn't tell her about Krycek's demands.
Scully later reveals to Doggett, that it is the virus which is keeping the various abductees alive long enough to
make a transformation such as happened to Miles earlier. Doggett tells Scully about his visit with Absalom, were they believe that the abductees resurrected are becoming aliens and will eventually conquer Earth. Skinner meanwhile is attempting to remove Mulder's life support and after a scuffle explains to Scully and Doggett that he was trying to kill Mulder because Krycek's demands of killing Scully's baby were too hard to meet. Doggett tries to catch up with Krycek in the covered garage and nearly gets driven over by Krycek, but survives. Krycek then willfully smashes the vaccine to
the ground as Doggett realizes he can't save it in time. Doggett then returns to the hospital, dejected over the loss of the vaccine. He finds Scully prepping Mulder for the vaccine, and both fear that without its Mulder will die or become a hybrid. Suddenly, Scully sees Mulder's condition begin to improve, and realizes that it was the life support equipment that was actually incubating the virus. Skinner's attempt to kill Mulder actually saved him. Later, Scully is sitting by Mulder's bedside as he regains consciousness. He stares blankly at Scully and asks,
"Who are you?" Scully's face fills with fear, then Mulder smiles and she realizes that after spending all of these months in captivity and then buried alive, the first thing he tries to do is pull one over on her. They both laugh, then Mulder asks, "Did anyone miss me?" Scully responds with tears.
References[]
Background Information[]
Production[]
- Chris Carter felt that they needed to return to the beginning since season eight was the end of the "Mulder Scully era". So they brought back various characters from the "Pilot", most notably Billy Miles.
- The Production Team used various wide shots when filming David Duchovny in his coffin.
- Make-Up Effects Artist Matthew Mungle was the man that created the decomposing look for Miles and Fox Mulder. When Miles went into the shower, they created shedding flesh. They used gellatines to pump out warm water, they put strawberry jam on Miles so-called flesh to make it fall off. (|The Truth Behind Season 8)
- Scully uses a combination of antiviral drugs to kill the alien virus within Mulder that threatens to turn him into an alien super soldier. This seems to be the reason why only Scully still has alien DNA while Mulder no longer does not, as seen in the Season 10 premiere "My Struggle", the Season 10 finale "My Struggle II", and the Season 11 premiere "My Struggle III".
Cast and Characters[]
- Larry Rippenkroeger (Deckhand) previously played Towncar Driver in The X-Files: Fight the Future.
Cast[]
Starring
- David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
- Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully
- Robert Patrick as Special Agent John Doggett
Also Starring
Guest Starring
- James Pickens, Jr. as Deputy Director Alvin Kersh
- Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
- Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
- Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
- Judson Scott as Absalom
- Zachary Ansley as Billy Miles
- Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully
- Gibby Brand as Arthur Gaffin
- Larry Dorf as Pathology Assistant
- Richard McGonagle as Dr. Francis Orovetz
Co-Starring
- Richard McGonagle as Dr. Francis Orovetz
- Arlene Pileggi as Arlene
- Nelson Mashita as Dr. Lim
- David Doty as Minister
- Mary Wickliffe as Nurse
- Larry Rippenkroeger as Deckhand