“All Souls” is episode seventeen of season five of The X-Files.
A priest – one Scully knows, Father McCue, first seen in “Gethsemane”, arrives at a house at night. He’s there to baptise a girl, Dara, who’s in a wheelchair. Later that night, Dara gets out of bed during a storm, even though she didn’t appear capable of walking. Her father wakes and finds the bed empty, seeing Dara walking in the street. There’s a man waiting for her and she kneels before him. Dara’s father runs towards them and there’s a bright light. The man has vanished and Dara, when her father gets there, is still kneeling but she’s clearly dead and her eyes are smoking pits.
Scully enters St. John’s Church in Alexandria. She has a photo of Emily, who died in the episode of the same name. She enters a confessional and explains she’s an FBI agent, sworn to uphold the law and save lives. The priest asks if that’s come into conflict with her faith. Last week, Father McCue approached Scully and asked if she would speak to a family who’d also lost a daughter. It might help her too. Scully says an innocent girl is dead because of her.
One week ago, at Easter services, Father McCue asked for a private word with Scully. The Kernoffs lost their daughter Dara and the police haven’t been able to tell them much. Scully’s words might carry a certain weight. Scully visits the Kernoffs; they adopted Dara 6 years ago. Lance was reluctant to take a special needs child but he became attached. Mrs Kernoff knows Dara is in a better place but her husband is angry at God. They say Dara may have been struck by lightning, but how she was out in the street was a mystery. She’s been wheelchair bound her whole life, but Lance saw her walking then found Dara on her knees praying.
The pathologist is uncertain of the cause of death. She guesses lightning, grounding through the top of Dara’s head. But there’s no other sign of arcing. Dara’s body was rigoured. She’d also had surgery on her hands, as she was polydactyl; but there was no other sign of tissue damage. It was as if God himself struck Dara down. Scully is going to look into the adoption.
At the State Psychiatric Hospital, a man gets out of a car which has an upside-down cross dangling from the mirror. He’s a priest, collecting a patient. Who’s also polydactyl. Before this happens, an Aaron Starkey arrives and speaks to the priest, Father Gregory. He’s from the department of social services and the adoption petition is missing its approval. Until Starkey gives it, the father can’t adopt.
Mulder contacts Scully and she tells him this isn’t official FBI business. Mulder says he’s tailing a possible suspect but will look into getting the records. Scully won’t give him a hint until then. Mulder’s ‘suspect tailing’ looks to be him going to a cinema to see one of his films, going by the title.
At the psychiatric hospital a man arrives and enters the room of the polydactyl girl. She assumes the same position as Dara and light shines again.
She’s been killed the same way as Dara. Scully is there when Mulder arrives. He got the birth records. No, Dara wasn’t a twin; she was a quadruplet. This second victim is one of her sisters. Mulder sees there’s an inverted cross hanging over the bed and says it’s a protest against the church. Which Scully would surely have known. Scully doubts the victim placed it; she was severely physically and mentally impaired. Scully may not want Mulder’s help but he offers his professional opinion: Scully has a bona fide super crazy religious whacko on her hands. Believing in ancient texts; may even believe they’re doing God’s work. Starkey arrives at this point and explains about Father Gregory.
Father Gregory’s church is the Church of St. Peter the Sinner – which is another meaning for an inverted cross. They enter and Mulder finds a book with gnostic gospels and other strange material. Someone is watching them but it’s not Father Gregory, who approaches. Gregory isn’t terribly cooperative. He knew the girl’s mother, but won’t give her name, because he met her during confessional when he was with the Roman Church. And she died in childbirth. Gregory claims to be trying to protect the girls, who he calls Messengers.
This is being told by Scully in recollection in confessional. Something is definitely hunting the quadruplets. As is usual in cases where Scully’s religion is prominent, she and Mulder reverse their roles, with him being the sceptical one.