The Beginning

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Just after having returned from Antarctica, Mulder and Scully conduct an unofficial search for a vicious alien in Phoenix, Arizona.

[edit] Summary

The episode begins with a group of workers carpooling in a Roush company van in Phoenix, Arizona. (Roush was the same company involved in the events of Redux, that bankrolled Kritschgau and Blevins, and was involved in congressional lobbying in regards to bio-tech issues.) Sandy, a man in the vehicle is obviously not feeling well. The men proceed to drop him off at his house.

He enters and turns the thermostat up as high as possible. He appears to be freezing cold. He looks at his hand to see that it is becoming translucent.

His coworker comes to pick him up the following morning, but he doesn't answer the door. The windows are condensated and the house is very humid. His friend enters the house and finds Sandy on the couch. His stomach appears to have burst open. The man is then viciously tacked by a grotesque alien. He attempts to open the door but is dragged back inside and clawed to death.

The scene cuts to Mulder who is trying to enhance a portion of a burned X-file. Mulder is then seen explaining to the Office of Professional Reviewpanel that he thinks that a lot of files that were burned in his office will be salvageable.

Mulder continues to explain what happened to him and Scully in Antarctica. He explains that there is a shadow group within the government that is growing corn which contains genetically engineered pollen to hold a virus that will be taken away by bees. The bees will transfer the virus through their stings, which will trigger the growth of an extraterrestrial being within a human host. He tells the panel that Scully has proof of these bees but when given the opportunity to corroborate, she does not support him and his observations.

After the review, Scully tells Mulder that the virus is not what he thinks it is. She explains to him that the virus is very much of this world.

The Syndicate figure that it took only 12 hours for the alien to gestate. The Cigarette Smoking Man says that they must kill the being, whatever the cost.

Assistant Director Skinner tells Mulder that his request to be reassigned to the X-Files has been denied. Skinner says that he might be able to help Mulder gain proof of what he is alleging. He gives him a folder that contains a disturbing picture of the man who was killed in Arizona.

CSM is seen in what appears to be an operation room and we see Gibson Praise undergoing an operation on his brain. CSM tells them to wrap it up because his expertise is required.

At the crime scene in Arizona, Mulder describes to Scully what happened to the man. He says that the first man was killed hours before the second. He then says that the same thing happened to the man he had seen in Antarctica. Mulder also finds what appears to be a fingernail in a claw mark on the wall.

CSM pulls up to the house with Gibson, who tells him that the creature is no longer in the house.

A man named Homer is sleeping at his work station at the Rolling Hills Nuclear Power Plant outside Phoenix. A co-worker wakes him up and reminds him that he should be doing his routine systems check. While checking, the co-worker notices that the cooling system is overheating and Homer goes into the plant to investigate. The alien grabs him and kills him.

Mulder and Scully arrive at the plant. Special Agent Jeffrey Spenderis already there and tells Mulder to leave. Mulder and Scully go back to their car where they find Gibson in the back seat, unconscious.

Scully nurses him back and she sees what they did to him. The incisions on his head were poorly sutured. He tells them that he got away from his captors and went to them for refuge. He has infections and has a fever. Scully recommends that they take him to a hospital.

Just as Scully and Mulder are taking the Gibson to the hospital, Agent Diana Fowley arrives and stops them, but doesn't see Gibson. She tells Mulder that she is on his side, but has to pretend that she isn’t. Mulder reluctantly trusts her and they go to the power plant. Scully takes Gibson to the hospital.

Fowley tells Mulder what happened. She suggests that the alien entity is still developing and that is why it went to the power plant, to get heat. They enter the power plant and look around. Near the place where Homer was killed, Mulder finds what appears to be the skin of an alien as if it had molted. Mulder gets a call from Scully and she tell him that Gibson has been infected with the virus.

As she is calling Mulder, a Syndicate operative dressed as a hospital worker kidnaps Gibson from the hospital and takes him to the power plant so he can find the alien. Mulder see this happening through a locked door with a window. Just as this happening the man is attacked by the alien. After killing the man, the alien looks at Gibson.

Mulder calls out to Gibson, but can’t get to him. Agent Fowley returns and draws her gun on Mulder as power plant security arrives.

Back in Washington, at FBI Headquarters Mulder and Scully are told that they are to have nothing to do with the X-Files and that they will report to AD Alvin Kersh.

In Mulder's old office, CSM is talking to Spender and tells him that he did well. Spender says that there is no way that Mulder will give up. CSM says that there are solutions, but they can’t use them in this scenario. CSM says that you can kill a man, but you can’t kill what he stands for, unless you break his spirit first.

Mulder is reconstructing old X-Files documents. Mulder tells Scully that he’s starting to trust Fowley again. Scully says that the DNA from the finger nail is the same as from the virus and that it matches some of the remnant DNA in our bodies. This would mean that we are all partially alien.

Gibson is hiding back in the plant and is looking over pool of water with cooling rods. In the water is the alien and it is molting again. When it completes its molt it takes the shape of the traditional Grey Alien.

[edit] Background Information

Gibson Andrew Praise is a boy that is able to read minds. He was a champion chess player and avoided assassination because he could read the mind of he would-be assassin. Gibson is the "missing-link". His DNA is both alien and human. For this reason, the Syndicate wants to study Gibson, to assist in it's work of developing an alien-human hybrid. The project is under the working title "Purity Control". The ability to clone alien-human hybrids is a necessary step toward colonization.

[edit] Cultural References

The sleeping nuclear power plant employee by the name of "Homer" is a reference to Homer Simpson of The Simpsons. .

[edit] Links and References

[edit] References

SEMICOLON-SEPARATED LIST OF ITEMS/LOCATIONS REFERENCED IN EPISODE (BUT NOT LINKED TO IF ALREADY LINKED IN SUMMARY OR GUEST STARS SECTIONS)

Previous episode:
The End

The X-Files
Season 6

Next episode:
Drive


Series:	The X-Files
Original Airdate:	11/8/98
Production Number:	6ABX01
Date(s):	Unknown
Written by:	Chris Carter
Directed by:	Kim Manners