“Providence” is episode ten of season nine of The X-Files.
A man is narrating about how God came to people, and that in Desert Storm, God came to him. His recon squad was ambushed and there were casualties. He saw his men were about to die and a shell lands on them. Death came to take his men, but not him; he was left as a witness to a vision of angels, from heaven. Four more soldiers trot up, attack the Iraqis, not being killed by bullets, then leave again. The man says they were living creatures in the likeness of men – a Biblical quote – and he was sent to deliver the message of these angels, the message of the God who came before all gods. In the present, the man, the leader of the UFO cult, is standing over an open UFO.
In the previous episode, “Provenance”, a member of the cult hit Doggett with her car then abducted William. Follmer is briefing a team on the matter; the Lone Gunmen are trying to get an ID. Except when they see the woman’s mugshot, they don’t confirm it’s her. Follmer also mentions Comer, who tried to kill William. Scully leaves and Skinner follows. He tells her to go home and not put herself through this. Scully is not impressed with Follmer and she isn’t pleased that Skinner, Kersh and Follmer kept back word of Mulder’s supposed death to protect her. Skinner says if she accuses the FBI, she has to accuse him, too. Scully says she’s going to find her son.
Reyes is with Doggett in the hospital when Skinner arrives. According to the doctor, Doggett may never wake up. Scully calls; she wants to see Reyes and would prefer Skinner didn’t know.
Reyes arrives at Scully’s apartment; the Lone Gunmen are there, too. They found who the woman who took William is, and Byers tucked a phone under the padding of William’s car seat. They’re going to track it. Except there’s no signal. Scully says she can’t do this alone and the FBI are saying William is likely already dead. Then Byers reports they got a signal in Pennsylvania. Scully asks Reyes if she’s coming.
The woman has stopped at a phone box and calls the leader. He says to stay where she is; he’ll send someone. After the call, part of the UFO starts moving. Then another bit sinks into the floor and the open part shuts, trapping two men inside. Reyes and Scully arrive at the phone box. The woman’s car is there, as is the car seat, but the woman and William are gone.
Back at the hospital, Reyes asks where Doggett is; he’s been taken for a cat scan. She heads to the chapel where Follmer joins her. He reassures Reyes, but knows she and Scully went after the kidnapper. Which he says was foolish; the FBI could have got there earlier and might even have caught her. Follmer wants her cooperation. If she doesn’t share, he won’t share his information. Comer has come around and he’s got something he wants to tell them.
Comer is still intubated when they arrive in his room and Reyes asks how he could have tried to tell them anything. With a pad. He wrote it down. Neither Reyes nor Follmer knows what it means, but he’s sure it means something.
The word is ‘JACKET’ which Reyes shows to Scully. Scully knows Comer wrote it. Reyes said she got it with the condition that Reyes shares whatever she learns from Scully. Scully doesn’t want to tell her anything, then she legitimately has nothing to share. Scully says Comer crashed a bike but got to Washington without a scratch on him. How did he do that? She thinks it was with the fragment of UFO Scully found in Comer’s jacket.
Heading to the hospital, the artefact does help Comer. Comer grabs Scully’s hand. He says her son has to die. Scully doesn’t take that well. Comer says it’s not what she thinks. He’s not following the cult line, because the leader thinks that Mulder had to die and William live, whilst Comer thinks William needs to die to save the world. Because of what the cult believes. Scully disagrees. She wants to find William, and William is being taken to the site of the UFO.