Veiled Vesta

Hooray for a new thread and it's so suggestive! I guess after we have a thread that says "Mulder and Scully Have Sex" there's no where else to go except for innuendo... but I sure love me some innuendo!

If anyone feels like reading a long post about an episode you probably haven't seen in a while, especially after all the less-than-exciting things some of you seemed to have gone through, um, here's my recap of the season 2 finale.

Anasazi

(**Infuriating Damned 3-Parter Note**: So it looks like I'm going to have to get used to doing 3 parters if I plan on recaping ever season premier and season finale. When I first saw this episode, I was surprised by the "To Be Continued" at the end. There was none in the first season finale but the second one not only had to have a season-ending cliffhanger but the continuation in season 3 ended in "To Be Continued" as well! Another first for the X-Files: Their first Damned 3-Parter - or to abbreviate: D3P.)

We open in the dusty New Mexico trails, a Navajo reservation. A young Native American kid named Eric is sleeping. Suddenly there's an earthquake. The next day, all is well and he deems it safe to go out riding. A wise old Native American, possibly his grandpa, tells him to leave the snakes alone because they'll be "angry and afraid". When Eric leaves, the younger Native American guy gives him a look as if to say, "well, here we go again." He asks the old Wise Man (in Navajo) what's up with that and he replies (also in Navajo) that the earth has a secret to tell. It's a little early for the riddle talk, isn't it? Especially riddle talk in another language. But I can't be too annoyed at the old Wise Man. He *is* old and wise, after all. Eric follows his advice and just drives his motorbike around the red clay-like cliffs of New Mexico. He ends up at a rock pit of some sort and when he looks down, he sees a large metal object buried in the sand. He gets down there to dig a bit then runs back to tell the locals that he found something Is it too much to hope that it's a refrigerator someone threw out? Maybe he's hoping to make alot if he hawks it for scrap metal. Anyway, he brought something wrapped up in a blanket from that metal thing, and a bunch of the Native Americans are looking at it, wondering what it is. The Wise Man says something in Navajo. Something ominous. Translated: "It should be returned. They will be coming." We finally get a good look at the thing Eric brought. That is the freakiest possibly-alien corpse I've ever seen. And yet I feel like this isn't the last time I'll be saying this for this series. By the way, if the old Wise Man knows "they'll" be coming, why not get some arrows and spears ready and defend yourselves? Then again, perhaps a gun would fare better against alien ray beams. Oh well.

D3P Season Finale Opening Credits! Time flies when you're watching specific episodes of the second season of The X-Files, dropping one episode to recap two other episodes, and (oh yeah) studying for finals. But I can't complain. Especially considering what Mulder will go through in this episode. And some of the Native Americans in the next episode. Those guys are such troopers! I say we should all try and pay a visit to an Indian Casino in honor of these brave men and women. (For those of you who don't live in the U.S, just play cards while writing a check to an Indian reservation. It's pretty much the same outcome. )

Inside an apartment in Delaware, it looks like a computer hacker is, you know, hacking into a computer. He's reading a conspiracy book thay I would by if I was just 10% more paranoid (I'm getting there, though) while the computer does all the work. Suddenly if beeps like crazy and he quickly goes to check what's up. Access Granted! He's obviously stumbled onto something big... the Marilyn Monroe/Kennedy sex tape? It's been making the rounds in semi-recent news and yet no one has the actual copy of the video, just stills. Does that count as a kind of sex conspiracy? A sexpiracy, if you will? (Sorry. It's a compulsion. Must combine... words... needlessly!)

Whatever big thing this computer hacker got, it's already made the rounds at the United Naitons (New York City! Woop woop!) An Italian man in a suit knocks on a door and informs the Italian diplomat in the office that someone has "broken into the MJ documents". That comes as quite a shock to the man in the office. News travels fast in a multi-language conspracy version of the game 'Telephone'. "Someone broke into the MJ files!" --> "Someone croaked while driving 50 miles!" --> "Someone choked in Life and Styles!" ...The game is more fun and makes more sense when more than one person participates. Typing it out just makes me seem crazy. All of this phoning back and forth in different languages leads us to Cigarette Smoking Man, the game buzzkill. After assuring a diplomat that there's no cause for concern, he turns to his shadowy cohorts and pretty much tells us that there's ALOT of cause for concern. Especially if the secret covert military busting down the computer hacker's apartment is anything to go by.

At Mulder's apartment, he gets a visit from "the three stooges". By that, Mulder means the lone gunmen. He's not feeling very well and isn't up for their antics. Well too bad because this is their only cameo in the finale so you'll have to deal with it. My fave three guys ignore his complaints, saying they probably haven't been followed. Mulder wonders who would follow them and Byers tells him about the Multinational Black Opps unit. They're trained killers, you see. Mulder asks if they've been defacing library books again. Heh. Don't mess with libraries. I used to work in one and they are hardcore. Frohike says it's not them the trained killers are after, it's Kennith Suna. That may or may not be his real name, but he's been mentioned before as 'The Thinker'. So, that computer hacker was the one who gave them the info on Scully in One Breath? Good to put a face to a name. Mulder asks what The Thinker did and Byers tells him he hacked into the defense department computer system. On a 90s computer? Well, color me impressed! The Thinker stumbled onto something big. Big enough to make him a wanted man in every branch of government. He asked to meet with Mulder so the gunmen are there to relay the message. Langly worries that their hacker friend might be dead then suddenly there's a gunshot. Dramatic timing. Mulder and the gunmen rush out into the hall to see a small crowd gathered outside an older woman's apartment. Apparently she shot her husband of 30 years, seeminly in a fit of insanity. Cops get to the scene fast. Suspiciously fast! Frohike comments on the weirdness.

Mulder is at a pretty garden in Washington, ready to meet with his hacker friend. The guy may be a geek but he's got elegant taste in meeting places. The Thinker appears, telling him that he doesn't want Mulder to know his real name because it's not important. Mulder thinks that sounds like a line he used in a bar once. Heh. Down to business: The Thinker believes he's got
the original defense department UFO intelligence files. It covers reportings on everything extraterrestrial from the 1940's onwards. Mulder asks if he read them, but The Thinker just downloaded what he could then got the hell out of there. Mulder wonders why he thinks they know who to look for and The Thinker tells him he didn't take any precautions in his hacking, not expecting to get anything good. Let that be a lesson to all paranoid computer hackers everywhere: always use protection... password protection. The Thinker gives Mulder the package with the info inside, in exchange he wants Mulder to uncover the truth and make the lying batsards pay for what they did. And so we see The Thinker for the last time. Darn.

In the basement office, Mulder's got a tape and he's putting it into the computer. He's pretty excited when Scully comes inside, and he tells her to get in and lock the door. Oh yeah. You know Scully's had dreams that started out like this. Time to test the weight and resistance of Mulder's desk... He asks her if she's familiar with the Ten Commandments. Umm, that's not exactly the mood I'd go with but okay. Turns out he's referring to commandment number four: 'Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy'? He manages to connect commandment four to aliens in such a way only he can. It's Mulder logic, don't question it. Scully, reallizing there will be no desk (s)exercise, wonders what Mulder is talking about. He shows her the 'Top Secret' files on the computer. You can tell they're 'Top Secret' because they've got the words 'Top Secret' on them. In red. This is Mulder's Holy Grail. He really likes using religious metaphors in this scene. Time to show Scully some hard evidence of government cover-ups and proof of extraterrestrials! And... nope. They're unreadable. Mulder can't believe that he's got himself a tape of gibberish, and he starts throwing a hissy fit about how he's so tired of all the BS and double talk and he really hates pencils. Hey, don't get so upset. Maybe it's written in alien language! That would be proof, right? Scully's explanation makes more sense though; the files are encrypted and she recognizes it as Navajo. It was used during WW2 and it was the only code the Japanese couldn't break. See, this is why Scully's backround knowledge of navy stuff comes in handy. That and her kickass-ness. Mulder is placated. He wants her to find someone to decipher it for him and she asks if he's okay. He hasn't been sleeping which I suppose would explain the mood swings and the pencil abuse. He's got a meeting with Skinner to get to. I sure hope one he doesn't get another one of his mood swings. He sees Skinner out in the hall and when he suggests they take their meeting into Skinner's office, Mulder asks angrily if Skinner wants to give him another jerk off assignment. Skinner ignores that and asks about some "sensitive files" that may be in Mulder's possession to which Mulder claims ignorance and turns to make a dramatic exit. Skinner grabs Mulder's shoulder to get his attention, and that's when Mulder loses it, punching Skinner in the face! The wild mood swings seem to come with temporary memory lapses because he should've known about Skinner's Vietnam training (see: One Breath), and he is easily overpowered. Now, some would say that Mulder is lucky he didn't get fired or arrested for assault. I'd say his luck has a sick sense of humor, especially later on in this episode.

As Mulder's baby-sitter, Scully is summoned into a meeting with Skinner regarding Mulder's crazy fit of rage. And it's not just Skinner she's facing, there's a whole bunch of FBI suits ready to question her. One of the FBI suits ask her if she knows anything about Mulder's bizarre behavior and she says she does not but mentions that he's been having trouble sleeping. I'd say his behavior is beyond crankiness from not getting enough sleep. The FBI suit asks if she thinks Mulder confides in her and she's all 'Hell yeah, 'cuz we're partners; I'm the Yang to his Ying, the Watson to his Sherlock, the milk to his Oreo.' Well, much of that is implied. Another FBI suit says that she was originally assigned to debunk his work, not swoon all over him. Scully says the work he's doing is actually valid and she is so not swooning. The FBI suit asks if she'd lie to protect him and she's all "are you accusing me of lying?" Because she doesn't give a straight answer, the suits threaten her with dismissal (see: fired) if they find out she hasn't told them everything she knows. Skinner let's Scully leave the office to think about her priorities: protect Mulder or protect her job?

In a fancy little country house there lurks great evil. We're at Martha's Vineyard, home of the Mulder family. Well, just Mulder's father. A doorbell rings and Mulder's Father, Bill, answers the door, facing the last person you'd want to see on your doorstep, smoking his cigarette and exuding evil. No, not a Jehovah's witness - it's Cigarette Smoking Man. Looks like CSM and Bill Mulder know each other rather well. The two have much to talk about, skiping past annoying pleasantries to talk about the missing MJ files. Bill is not happy about this development, saying the files shoud've been destroyed. CSM agrees it's a setback but these things happen, and he knows that Bill's son has the files. Bill is just in shock as CSM runs down the options: plauible denial, getting them back before they're translated, other more shady means. It's the last option that has Bill worried, asking CSM if he would harm Mulder. CSM says he's protected him so far and besides, if he kills the high profile, Congress-allied Believer, they'd probably turn him into a martyr. Martyr Mulder is almost as cool as Spooky Mulder. Bill doesn't want Mulder to know about his involvement in the MJ files. To think, Mulder's own daddy is a puppet to the dark side! Tsk, tsk. CSM suggests Bill deny everything if Mulder finds out. Then he leaves with a nice little "Good to see you again, buh bye now." Good thing he didn't make it *even more* awkward by mentioning Mulder's mom.

At his apartment, Mulder is trying to sleep off his crazy irrationality. All of a sudden, we see someone in his apartment. Mulder wakes up and rushes for his gun but it's just Scully. He didn't answer his door so she let herself in. He didn't answer because he took a sleeping pill that just wore off the second she opened his door. She was worried about him and he's a bit worried himself because he's still feeling ill, though maybe some of his feelings have to do with the fact that people know he's got the MJ files and it's only a matter of time before they come after him. Scully tells him about her meeting with Skinner and she's worried he's gotten himself into a huge mess that she can't help fix. Mulder offers to apologize but Scully is upset that she lied to the FBI suits. If that's not reluctant love, I dont know what is. She put her job on the line for him and she needs to know if the tape with the files is worth risking everything. Mulder needs to know if she got someone to break the code on the files, and he says it in an awfully demanding tone. *sigh* Scully's meeting with someone soon and Mulder arranges his own meeting with PseudoGotham city's X-man. One last question by Scully: Why'd you attack Skinner? Mulder's answer: I dunno. Well okay then.

So Scully meets with a Navajo women in a Washington office and she informs Scully that even though she recognizes some words, they'll need a code talker to decode the whole file. Luckily, the Navajo woman knows someone who can help. Scully asks which words she recognizes in the file. The Navajo woman points to "Goods/merchandise" and "vaccination" in Navajo. This is probably important to note for later on.
Meanwhile, Mulder gets a call from his father. He needs to see Mulder right away. I must note that Papa Mulder is drinking something while he's on the phone and let's just say it's not apple juice. No matter how mean and cold-hearted his father has been in the past, Mulder has to go. Oh Mulder... Scully enters his apartment later. She walks over to his window where that 'X' is still taped on. I wonder if there's any sticky tape residue from all those times Mulder's taped an 'X' on his window. Scully must wonder too because she leans in and nearly gets shot! Someone fired a gun from outside and it's a good thing the bullet only grazed her forehead.

Bill Mulder lets his son inside, hugs him, and starts mumbling about how it's "all so clear now" and how it was "so complicated then". Methinks he's had one too many "non-apple juice"drinks (see: whiskey or anything alcoholic and amber-colored). Mulder asks for clarifictaion and Bill tells him that that he's a smart boy and he's never given in to the dark side. Mulder asks if he's referring to the work his dad did for the state department. Bill just rambles on about how Mulder will learn about things and hear about things and he mentions "the merchandise" (a word in the MJ file!) Then Bill says he's been taking medication and excuses himself for minute. So he mixed pills with his alcohol? Well he's already doomed and doesn't even need to be shot in the bathroom. That's right, someone is waiting for Bill in the bathroom and via the the mirror's reflection we see that it's ... wait for it ... Alex Krycek! That's right; Mulder's former FBI partner, wannabe Scully replacement, and lackey to the evil covert government! I know now why he's been dubbed Rat boy. Mulder hears a gunshot and quickly rushes to the bathroom. Ratboy is no where to be found and Mulder's dad has been shot. His last words are "Forgive me". Umm, no. You kind of deserve that, Bill Mulder. This brings about some Mulder angst with a side order of illness-induced confusion. Mulder calls Scully and tells her that his dad's been shot dead. I like how he trusts her enough to call her immediately after the shooting. Scully is concerned and asks where he is. It takes Mulder a while to tell her and she asks him if he knows who the shooter is. Mulder does not. He also stresses that he was not the shooter, though I wouldn't have held it against him if he wanted to kick the corpse a bit. Scully tells him he has to leave because all signs point to him being the shooter. She wants him to come to her place and she tells him that someone tried to shoot through his apartment window earlier. She realizes someone might be trying to kill Mulder, and maybe even frame him for his father's murder.

As soon as Scully opens the door, Mulder falls into her arms all sick and tired. Awww! She's totally worried about him and she calls him Fox! I almost forgot that she called him that! And this scene is the main reason I'm recapping the season finale. Mulder tries to say he's okay and they need to find his father's killer but he doesn't convince Scully what with him nearly fainting on her. She leads him to her bed, telling him he must rest. Just want to say that Mulder looks so adorably perfect in Scully's bed.
Ah, the morning after. Nothing good ever happens the morning after spending the night at your pretty partner's place. Okay, one good thing; Mulder shirtless. And pantsless! I just can't help but wonder who undressed him and if she let hers hands linger or something in that state... God, 2 of these scenes in 1 season? Okay, okay, I must concentrate on what Mulder will say later. His words of betrayal. Yes, that keeps the mind clear. No blood rushing to my head today! So, Mulder calls for Scully before checking his holster. It's empty. I don't think he slept off all his mood swing irritability, yet.

At the FBI ballistics lab, a tech is firing bullets for comparison. Scully hopes they get the results soon and her phone rings. It's Mulder. He accuses her of taking his gun and thinking he shot his pa. Well, good morning to you too, sunshine. Scully insists she took his gun to try and clear his name and he wants to know why she didn't ask him for it. Scully replies that he had a fever and she didn't want to wake him but he thinks it's because she was afraid he was going to shoot her. When she tells him she has a meeting with Skinner and needs some info Mulder gets all pissy and reverts to Pilot Mulder, only way more harsh. He pretty much accuses her of being a spy and taking her little notes on him to the higher ups. Then, like a dagger to my shippy heart, he tells her she's got his files and his gun but not his trust. I must remind myself that he's sick and paranoid and crazy and it sort of helps that he's half shirtless. That's a thoughtful distraction. Mulder then hangs up on a concerned Scully.

Scully doesn't let Mulder's words affect her as she digs out the bullet in Mulder's apartment. After she puts the bulet fragment in her pocket (worse evidence bagging ever) she sees a mysterious white truck outside his window. Down in the apartment complex basement, she checks out the water tanks and notices a sort of filter in one of them. Did I mention all the times Mulder has been shown drinking his apartment's tap water? Well I'm doing it now. While all this is happening, Mulder is outside, having taken a taxi home. Uh oh. He sees someone skulking around his building and he quickly follows. He hides on one side of the building as a very familiar Rat walks toward him from the other side. Mulder grabs Krycek the Rat and a brief fight is on! Go Mulder! He punches him like 50 times rapid fire, then gets the Rat's gun and pins him to a car. Mulder is all set to kill him, but he wants to know if he killed his dad. Ratboy doesn't answer so Mulder beats on him again. That never gets old. Then Scully comes to break up the punching party. Boo... She's got her gun aimed at Mulder, telling him not to shoot but Mulder won't back down, saying that Ratboy killed his father. Scully has no choice but to shoot Mulder, allowing the Rat to scurry off into the night. Let this be a lesson to you Mulder: you don't trust Scully and you get shot. Um, even if it's Scully who has to do the shooting.

Some time later, Mulder finally wakes up in an unfamiliar room. He's shirtless, his shoulder is bandaged up and our friendly Native American Wise Man from the opening scene is there to greet him. Scully is also there with some water and reassurance that her shooting was good because the bullet went clean through his shoulder and nothing was broken. Mulder wants to know why she shot him. I just want to know what took her so long. Scully explains that she had no choice and she couldn't let him kill Krycek the Rat because then they would never be able to prove he was the killer and Mulder would just add more trouble to his growing list. I don't know... she could've found another way to stop him. If she was that good a shot, she should've incapacitated the Rat and tell Mulder that's the only way he'll get justice. If all else fails, give him the ole' "Kill him and you'll never find out the truth" line. A part of me thinks that Scully probably got the tiniest bit of satisfaction from popping one into Mulder. Hey, she let out some frustration then got to see him shirtless. It's a win-win. Anyway, Scully tells him about the unmarked van delivering soft water to his apartment complex and it turns out they've been drugging the water via a dyalysis filter. All that water he's been drinking caused his mood swings, psychotic paranoia and overall meanness. On the plus side, it cured his red green color blindness! The drugs in the water also caused that lady from earlier to kill her husband, by the way. All of this craziness just because Mulder got too close to the truth? Something tells me he'll always be "too close" to the truth and the insane consequences that follow him on his search will make for some fine, frustrating television over the next few seasons. So Scully took Mulder all the way to New Mexico to meet up with their Navajo interpreter; the Native American Wise Man, Albert Hosteen. That's not a very Native American-y name. Wise Man Albert has been translating the MJ files and he claims he knew they were coming. For the most part, the files are made up of jargon but they do tell of a conspiracy of silence since the 1940s. So far no mention of aliens, just silence about something. Wise Man Albert says the answers lie buried in sand on a Navajo reservation. They're going to see the big metal thing with the possibly-alien corpse! Well, just Mulder and Wise Man Albert. Scully can't go with him for reasons that don't exactly make sense to me. She says she missed a meeting with Skinner and Mulder recognizes that Scully took a huge risk for him. So, she drove cross-country for two days after shooting Mulder and missed an important meeting but she won't follow through on the quest? She's already as good as fired, what difference does it make that she not check out the metal thing out in the Navajo desert? Anyway, Mulder thanks her for taking care of him and Scully mentions that her name is in the files. She's in the most recent entries along with the name Duane Barry. The context is not clear, just that it involves a test. Oh dear. That makes things personal. Mulder HAS to find out the truth, now!

On the car ride over, Mulder and Wise Man Albert do some talking: "You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in Paris?" "No, and I don't really care." Wiseman Albert says some metaphoric philosophical things about the truth surviving in the sands of deception. Then they get to his pretty blue house. Mulder is prepared to sacrifice himself to the truth, not like the Anasazi tribe from 600 years ago who disappeared without a trace. Mulder asks what is this truth he will apparently sacrifice himself for. Wise Man Albert replies that "Nothing disappears without a trace." That is all kinds of abstruse. The Native American boy, Eric, is waiting to take Mulder down to discover the metal truth. They ride along until the reach the rock pit. He starts to climb down when his cell phone rings. He's got good coverage. It's CSM and he wants to know where Mulder is. Yeah, like he's gonna tell him. CSM wants to explain a few things, particularly things involving his father and how he was the one who authorized "the project" which is why he asked for Mulder's forgiveness before her died. Mulder doesn't believe it and CSM tells him that he didn't have his father killed. Mulder calls him a black lunged son of a bitch, and threatens to expose him and his project. He hangs up but CSM already has everything he needs. They have a trace on Mulder's location and a helicopter is waiting to take him to New Mexico. Wow. I gotta get me some of their awesome spying equipment. For, um, educational purposes, of course.

Mulder finally makes it to the site. The metal thing buried in the sand is a refrigeration car. Wait, so I was actually right when I thought it was a fridge? Mulder calls from inside the boxcar buried in the rock quarry. He tells Scully what he sees. There are bodies everywhere. Scully tells him that the files talked about experiments conducted by scientists after WW2. Enemy scientists who conducted tests on humans, aka "merchandise". Mulder says the bodies in the boxcar look more alien than human and he spots a smallpox vaccination scar on the arm of a body. It's all very shocking. And that's when the boxcar's hatch closes, and CSM's helicopter arrives. CSM questions Eric who isn't saying anything while the covert military black opps check out the boxcar. They announce that Mulder is not there. He's apparently "vanished without a trace." CSM will have none of that so he orders them to burn the boxcar. They throw a bomb of some kind inside the boxcar and make their getaway in the helicopter, taking Eric with them. There's a huge explosion that no man could've survived. And... that's our season 2 cliffhanger. Damn it! But then imagine how the people who watched this on television must've felt. What a way to end season 2!