The X-Files – This

“This” is episode two of season eleven of The X-Files.

A vehicles is travelling down a road at night with the music playing loudly. The driver is wearing a balaclava and the passengers all appear to be armed. Mulder and Scully are asleep when noises start coming from somewhere, with a great deal if interference. It’s coming from Mulder’s phone, and someone is trying to get hold of him with a video call. The person is Langly, of The Lone Gunmen. He’s got a warning for Mulder. Only there’s a slight problem – Langley is dead and has been for some time, as he and the others died in “Jump the Shark”. This Langly asks Mulder if he is dead, because if he is, then they, whoever they are, know what Langly knows. Mulder and Scully hear noises from outside Mulder’s house and see what looks like part of a figure holding a gun. Mulder and Scully instantly react and two of the attackers are killed but the third gets away.

The opening credits phrase this time is ‘Accuse your enemies of that which you are guilty’.

Scully calls it in but Mulder is not willing to hand over the phone that Langly called him on. Mulder was not around when Langly was killed and asks if he could be still alive. Scully says no, because she was at The Lone Gunmen’s funeral, but she didn’t see the body because they had been exposed to a weaponised strain of the Marburg virus and the bodies were incinerated. The question is who are the ‘they’ that Langly mentioned and what Langly was talking about. The call’s timing was very convenient and probably saved their lives. Then people arrive, far too quickly it would seem to be in response to Scully’s call. The people who arrive demand that Mulder and Scully surrender. Scully calls Skinner who tells her and Mulder to surrender, but that he can’t explain over an open line.

The armed men enter and, even though Mulder and Scully do not surrender, they are captured. The commander of the armed team, who is Russian, wants Mulder’s phone. And to kill them. Which proves easier than expected as Langly is still trying to talk to Mulder. Mulder and Scully manage to get away though, and are met by Skinner. According to Skinner, the team is a private security company based in Moscow and he thought they were just going to be questioned, not killed. Skinner also confirms that Langly is dead. So, just who is trying to contact Mulder?

The first stop is Arlington National Cemetery where Langly and the others are buried. Langly’s grave leads to that of Mulder’s contact ‘Deep Throat,’ who died well before Langly did. So how can a clue from Langly’s grave lead to that of Deep Throat. The people after Mulder and Scully have influence over the FBI, which means that they can’t really go into their office. Langly, or a virtual copy of him, is in a simulation. One that was supposed to be heaven, but isn’t.

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