I'm first? Unbelievable. (Of course, while I'm typing, someone will beat me to it.)

Once the doctors in the boxcar had whatever success they did with Cassandra, they pile into a truck to go celebrate, asking Openshaw if he wants to come along. Well, if he did, there'd be nobody left with the patient. Are they that confident of their security measures? (They sure didn't help against the Faceless Aliens.)

Shouldn't someone have been alerted when Openshaw's EKG began going nuts after CGB-the-CSM turned down his oxygen? They have automatic systems for this at most reputable hospitals. (Or at least those not controlled by shadowy government conspiracies.)

More than once in this episode, we see a masked Faceless Alien passing as human, speaking and seeing as if the appropriate orifices were open and functioning. How can they do that? Specifically, how can they give a perfect impression of an open mouth, with depth and all, when they can't open theirs?

Oh, and I loved Krycek's passing "Resistance was futile then" line. Keep feeding us Trekkers these gems, guys. ;-)

Wow, very interesting episode. Can't wait 'til next week. :-)

I also thought about the same thing Shane. I kept thinking how they got around since they have their eyes and ears plus mouth "closed". Granted that they were rebel aliens, I suppose they're using the "human" exterior "suit" as a disguise to begin with so wouldn't that prevent them from getting infected by "purity" already? Why the trouble of "sealing" themselves again?

I kept thinking Openshaw = Open Show. Don't know why though. Maybe 'coz this is the _show_ that reveals the conspiracy and _opens_ the door to the truth after all. ;-P

And now we know CSM is C.G.B. (CiGarette-smoking Boss?) Spender. Apparently he had high hopes that his son will follow in his footsteps. He should've groomed him himself if that was his plan. But I guess that was his mistake ... of letting Cassandra raise Jeffrey.

Krycek is an enigma. But now I think he actually works with the rebel aliens and is why they (rebels) know about the Syndicate. Why he killed the impostor might just be his way to cover his tracks and show Jeff what the truth is.

Well, CSM's got a new pawn ... Diana Fowley. I was disappointed that he enlisted her help by telling her the truth (half-truths maybe ... he's still probably keeping something). Where's the manipulative CSM? Doesn't Fowley have bones in her closet?

Ok, I think this is it for tonight ... 'til next episode guys, when the plot thickens. :-)

So how come Krycek and Spender didn't succumb to the toxic gas emitted by the dying alien? They're human, aren't they? Mulder almost died when he "punctured" one up on the arctic icecap.

Oh, I loved the "resistance is futile" line as well :)

After Krycek kills the faceless alien and it dissolves in a pile of green goo... nobody seems affected by the fumes.

I noticed "resistance is futile" line and loved it..there were more lines like that. I'll surely be gaping whilst you-all post them for me.
hm.....

I missed the ending of this ep tonight cuz for some reason I was very tired and my eyes didn't want to stay open. I wasn't bored by it at all. I just don't always get enough sleep. I also missed the "Resistence is futile" reference. I got mad cuz I woke up right after the ep ended the next one, an older one, started. What happened in the last fourth or so of this ep? Someone please tell me, although I'm sure it'll be at least partially shown next week.

That was a great episode! Best myth in quite a while!

So, Cassandra Spender has green blood. This hospital where she was interred... did they not do blood work? Wouldn't they find this out?

Is this the first time we've heard the word "Syndicate" (as opposed to "Consortium") used on the show? It certainly was used often in the press.

I wonder why they didn't just ask Cassandra her husband's name.

Scully says that Mulder thinks he saw Samantha last year. Wouldn't it be two years ago (that being 1997, and this being 1999)?

Maybe the green fumes don't kill people when they've been stabbed in the back of the neck, because Mulder didn't kill him, he just 'wounded' him.
Also, Krycek handles pretty good for an amputee, I don't remember seeing his fake hand once. Also, he seems to be a honorary member of the syndicate, but why is he still acting like Cancerman's chauffeur? Also, did Cancerman want Krycek to go in after Spender, or did Krycek figure he'll screw it up?

Okay, get ready for a good-old-fashioned NylaRant!
1st of all...for anyone who was in doubt (SPOILER AHEAD!!) Mulder couldn't have
shot Cassandra (great name for the character!) because in the preview he said
'she *is* the one.' Present tense.
2.When my dad saw them dramatically cut into Cassandra he said "It's a Trill! It's
a Trill, it's a Trill-a-minute!" ROTFL!!
3. I *knew* Fowley was accurately named. (ESP strikes again!)
4. Are the shapeshifters supposed to be the faceless aliens? I hope not, because
that creates a biiig problem. Besides, what good does it do to sew up your face? The
boy in FTF got infected through his pores, apparently.
5. I felt like Chris was screaming in my ear. "KRYCEK'S TRYING TO CONVERT
SPENDER TO HIS CAUSE!!" And, BTW, Krycek is now my fav. villain. And is it just
me, or, during Krycek's little talk with Spender, was the air crackling with UST
or what?!
6. It seems to me that the beginning of the CSM's confessions to the Foul One was
CC talking. Rewatch it and you'll see what I mean.
7. Is Scully gonna get any lines in the next show, or is Mulder going to talk for her
instead again?
8. Oh, Mulder handled Spender's little 'request' perfectly. And now DD's happy,
with all the hoop-shooting he got to do. And, of course, you realize that they can
never replace Mulder with Spender now, after he CSM's cutting (and accurate)
remark to Spender.
More later, no doubt...I have to go rewatch it. Let me conclude with a quote:

REJECTED DIALOGUE: Skinner--"I'm reopening the X-Files--that's what they
fear the most. That, and hairy spiders, but mostly the reopening of the
X-Files."(Ascension)

Since Agent Fowley is willing to assist Cigarette Smoking Man, has she always been up to no good? If so, why wouldn't the chess prodigy and mind reader, Gibson, have been able to determine if that was the case?

To Shane: Don't forget there was also that line from Krychek when he said something about fighting the future. A reference to the tagline of themovie. While we are on the subject I understand that the next one comes out next year and will be subtitled "Invasion."

Good episode. Revealed a nice amount, although I for one, feel that the show is getting too simplistic by just saying it is an "alien civil war". Good characterization though.

COMMENTS
1. Chris Owens was terrific as Spender this time around, accurately portraying a man caught between his father, work, and his mother. I was wondering if he was going to die when the rebel started to choke him.

2. Nicholas Lea, for once, wasn't so great as Krycek. He was fine as CSM's driver ("Watch where you point that thing" was great), and good just as a Conspiracy stooge. The second he starts to babble on ("Your father is a great man", "If resistance was futile then...), Krycek becomes an annoying impression of a prophet.

3. William B. Davis--great. Mitch Pileggi--excellent. Did anyone think the Well-Manicured Man was going to pop up, when the Consortium guy opened his door? Oh, yeah, Mulder and Scully. Kind of forgot about them. I thought this was the "Merry Tales of the Syndicate" show.

4. Ponderings: The scene with CSM slapping his son around looked like a Three Stooges skit, the long monologue of CSM was totally unecessary (save to clue new viewers in), and Diana Fowley was indeed a surprise.

5. Predictions: Agent Spender is probably killed by CSM, Cassandra is not shot by Mulder (she is killed by an alien rebel), and Krycek decides to put the moves on another Consortium female--Fowley.

Hey, are these rebels a different alien race or not? Isn't a little bit of a *coincidence* that the rebels--"another alien race"--die in *exactly* the same way that the conquering aliens do? How convenient! Must save on weapons development cost, out there in the galaxy....

What patient aliens. 50 years, the Sydicate has been stalling them, rebels have been burning people up, and they don't just say "Screw it, who needs human slaves, we'll just ship a group in from Alpha Centauri after we've cleansed this planet." Perhaps I'm just the impatient conqueror type.

I *did* spend most of the episode wondering how much of the story was just Cancerman's lies, a'la "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man."

MikeC--the moment Ratboy started calling Cancer Man "a great man", I began wondering what his agenda was. As I recall, Krychek was ready to shoot Cancer Man only a few episodes ago. Is Ratboy a faceless rebel too?

Mark--I'm not sure about this alien thing, but here's my guess. The Black Oil aliens need human hosts/slaves, but the host/slaves must be altered to use properly. The faceless aliens must be hybrids that are ready to be taken over, but have mutilated themselves to prevent infection. Our human hybrids must be like them, so that's why they die the same way.

I think the alien rebels have only just started the burning, so the Black Oil aliens haven't caught on--yet.

50 years is pretty short if you're talking about advancing human technology by such leaps. In 1947 we didn't have anything like the technology to create a human/alien hybrid.

I think I believe Cancer Man's story. He's desperate, and only the truth will convince.

Hmmm, speaking of hospitals doing blood workups... anyone remember that incident a few years ago when a woman was taken to the ER and the fumes from her body knocked out the whole medical team? There are just some people you don't want to put an IV in!

Fumes from her body? As in B.O. or some chemical she had on her?

I can send you to a book about that: "The Straight Dope Tells All," by Cecil Adams. Explanations for the woman's ability to immobilize hospital workers right and left range from the absurd ("they were overcome by the scent of death," to some shaky scientific theories. It *didn't help* that when the authorities went in with Level 5 containment units, there was nothing left to clean up.

Hmmm. I wonder if Carter got his idea for that green death cloud from reports of that incident?

As usual, X-Files prompts more questions than it answers. Let's face it, CSM's narration wasn't answering any questions for us, it was confirming what we had already figured out. It wasn't until the second "narration segment" that I figured out he wasn't talking to us, he was talking to somebody else. And, yes, I was surprised at who it was. Makes you wonder what relation SHE is.

So there are two different aliens here? That would make sense considering all the different alien types we have seen thus far. However, I think it does raise some inconsistencies regarding these two discussed in this ep. The biggest inconsistency revolves around the black oil. So far we have seen it leap from person to person, crawl out of a space rock, drip down onto Mulder, be injected into someone's arm, infect a boy in a cave in Texas by crawling up his leg, and yet the Mountain Folk in Russia think they are going to be immune to it by cutting off their left arms and the Rebels think they are going to be immune to it by sealing up their eyes and mouths. And as for it's "purpose" so far we have seen both Mulder and Krycek subjected to the oil and they comparatively seem not affected by it. In the movie the infection of the oil meant you would have an alien incubating inside you. That didn't happen to Krycek or Mulder.

As for the faceless Rebels, are these the same shape shifters we've seen before? The shape shifters seemed to be working with the Consortium. If they are the Rebels wouldn't the bad aliens know this by now? As far as we know, this is the first time that we've actually seen them impersonating living people. Also in Russia when the incinerating began we got the impression that the faceless ones were human victims who witnessed these events turned zombie. We were not lead to believe these were a separate group of aliens.

Now let's take a long hard look at Cassandra Spender. She is the ultimate achievement, the goal, the success of their work. Did they ever explain what made her so special? We have seen hybrids before. What makes her the great success? Also hybrids generally are hybrids from birth. If she was abducted in 1973, is this the real Cassandra or a clone? If she is a clone then, yes, I'll buy the hybrid. If she is not a clone, then was she a hybrid from birth? And if so what does that make her son?

I too thought that Krycek and Spender should have been gagging from the fumes. Good scene though with Spender's facial expressions. That poor boy had no clue what he was getting into.

I would think that the malevolent aliens would be on to the double dealings of the Consortium. They obviously know that someone has developed a vaccine after that little fiasco in Antartica.

I'm not into spoilers, but the scene ends with Mulder pointing a gun at Cassandra and someone pounding on Mulder's door. First off, I don't think Mulder will shoot her. Secondly, we are lead to believe that who ever is pounding on the door is someone after Cassandra. But then we really don't know that for sure, do we?

Nyla wrote:
> couldn't have shot Cassandra (great name for
> the character!) because in the preview he
> said 'she *is* the one.'
In the preview there is also some statement to
the effect that "she is the last survivor of
a medical experiment, blah blah blah".

However, both statements could be referring to Samantha, rather than Cassandra.

The reason why Mulder can't kill Cassandra is that Scully would't lie about what happened (even if the people(?) pounding on the door conveniently destroy the evidence) and Mulder would spend the rest of the show in prison for murder.

Also, I think it would alienate enough viewers to hurt the show's ratings.


Perhaps the "rebel" aliens have green blood because they are using hybrids as hosts. They could be a virus, too.

I thought Cassandra was a hybrid like the doctor in the first season finale, who bullets didn't hurt.

ANP

Hi there Ross.

I don't know about Krycek, but if I remember correctly, Mulder was being tested for the Russian vaccine, the one in the movie that is touted as being the best vaccine. Therefore, it must have worked on Mulder. Also, if I remember correctly, when the UNBlonder, Covarubbias, was infected with the black oil after trying to steal the kid, they used two different vaccines on her: one that was administered to her in front of the whole Syndicate (this one was unsuccessful, and I believe, non-Russian) and one that just the Well-Manicured Man administered (this one was succesful--you could tell by the lack of black stuff in her eyes--and was Russian. It was also the same stuff the Well-Manicured Man gave Mulder in the movie). With regard to Krycek, I can't remember but I'd imagine his connections with the Russians got him all the free vaccine he could want.

I don't know about the faceless aliens also being the shapeshifting aliens. It looked to me like they just had reallllllllllllllllly thick and apparently quite pliable masks on. Otherwise wouldn't their faces just switch back rather than peel off?

I think that the person at the door is going to be Spender, and that Mulder is just pointing the gun as some sort of a bluff. Mulder and Scully don't know yet that Spender is now ticked off at his dad and wants to try to save his mom. There will be some quick sort of mushy scene, and then they'll be on the run. Yes, I think Spender is the expendable character now. I read interviews that "someone" was going to die, but I don't think it will be someone that wasn't in both episodes (e.g., the Lone Gunmen weren't in the first part, so I don't think CC would bring them in in the 2nd part, just to kill one of them).

And I agree. Is this the Mulder and Mulder show, or what? I miss Scully!

I think that the reason Ratboy and Nerdboy didn't die from the green fumes is they used the icepick on the back of the neck.

-12-

Quit saying 'ratboy,' Krycek is the man

That's true. Using the icepick to kill an alien or hybrid doesn't seem to affect you, as witnessed by the Grey-Haired Man killing Kurt Crawford in "Memento Mori", Mulder "killing" the Bounty Hunter in "Herrenvolk", etc.

1)The doctor seemed to have quite a "hollywood" death in the hyperbaric chamber -- rather gentle for having no oxygen.
2)Wow -- Ratboy has a nice new left arm. Didn't he lose it in the Russian camp? That is a nice ability -- to get a new left arm that doesn't look prosthetic. I thought that I saw the hand move!
3)When the doctor was killed by Ratboy with Spender looking on, the green "blood" was not toxic (it was toxic in A Christmas Carol 2). Therefore, Mulder sems to be taking quite a chance if he shoots Cassandra Spender. Her blood might be as toxic as the other aliens green "blood" is to humans.
4)What a BIMD moment -- Mulder using Spender's computer to download information before Skinner comes in. Why not use ANYONE ELSE's computer? (Preferably in any other section of the building!)

maybe they should come out with xFiles Beanie babies. I want the Black-oil Mulder, the CSM, and
all the puter nerd beanie babies. imagine how cute and cuddly!

Mulder using Spender's computer: hey, maybe that dink Spender didn't bother to change the locks on the door--so Mulder still had the key.

Ok, maybe "dink" is a little harsh--I'm dying here, waiting for Sunday.

I'm *still* confused about which aliens are which. The "black oil* seemed to transform into a Roswell alien while it was sitting in the nuclear reactor. Then there are the shape-shifting aliens. Are they also the black oil aliens, or are they another slave race (this would explain defectors like John Smith, no?). Then, there are the faceless aliens. Are they yet another race of aliens? And, overall, I still think it is *mighty* convenient that two groups of aliens and one set of human hybrids are all killed in exactly the same way. But, maybe the aliens just wanted the hybrids all manufactured to factory specs.

All this work, and will the aliens actually arrive, or just infect us and turn us into themselves? If the latter, why bother? Wouldn't you want to colonize a planet by actually moving your people onto it (not just your "life force")?

Or, does that life force include things like meories, etc.? And hey, if that ship at the end of "Fight the Future" is any indication, their technology is enormous! They could just drop rocks on us from outer space and whup us.

Cheers, however, to Chris Carter for skipping such an obvious plot, though. (Devlin and Emmerich, are you listening, you peasants?)

How likely is it that I'll get answers to any of this? Maybe Carter has them in the same file as the description of Scully and Mulder's escape from the Arctic....

Spender = Weaselboy
Krycek = Ratboy

We're a happy rodent family! 'Specially since Krycek may have more than a passing interest in Spender... (remember "Red and the Black"? HE KISSED MULDER! YUCK!).

let me get this straight:
Mulder and Scully have been "put on administrative leave" directly after being caught trying to dig up dirt about CSM and family...
ummmm...how did scully then manage to get her hands on tons of hard copy, including that photo of Mulder's father with csm?
You mean, Mulder and Scully's access to all FBI records, online and otherwise, wasn't IMMEDIATELY revoked?
By the way, wouldn't CSM have destroyed all those documents and photos, LONG AGO?
Just curious.
(perhaps a little help from a certain tall bald guy?)

Thanks, Kell, I completely forgot about that one.

Here's one: why did CSM wait until *after* the FBI had been all over the boxcars to "clean up a little"? Apparently the whole situation has really unnerved him...

If Krychek is Ratboy and Spender is Weaselboy, what is Agent Fowley? Skunkgirl, maybe?

I believe that Fowley is more or less universally known as The Fowl One.
And Krycek is my favorite, FAVORITE bad guy. BTW, it is my personal opinion that
the kiss isn't neccesarily slashy, although it could be. Either which way, it was
extremly well-written

Here's a nit in www.thex-files.com's summary. It says that Elder #1 was replaced by a rebel. Not so. I believe it was #2 or #3.

I thought she was "Dear Diana" with the evident sarcasm dripping...

-12-

Below is an excerpt from the official The X-Files website under its episode guide for "Two Fathers."
"...Back at the hospital, Cassandra enters the bathroom to smoke a cigarette. As she looks in the mirror, her face suddenly loses its shape. Cassandra screams. The female FBI agent assigned to protect her races to her aid. She assures Cassandra that she will be all right, as she is 'the one.' Cassandra stares at her, not comprehending. The female FBI agent reaches up to her own face and pulls back her flesh, revealing a male Faceless Alien beneath. Cassandra recoils in fear. Clad in the FBI agent's clothing, she flees to Mulder's apartment..."--The X-Files official website
Was this particular scene omitted at the last minute? Thank you.

I don't remember that scene at all, and I thought I watched the episode very closely.

Who were the "Elders?" Was Well-Manicured Man an Elder as well? Did Cigarette-Smoking Man/Cancer Man/Raul Bloodworth/C.G.B. Spender, Marita Covarrubias, and Alex Krycek, to name a few, report to these Elders?
The Syndicate members' families were returned to them prior to the aliens' discovery of the successful alien/human hybrid. I thought Cigarette-Smoking Man/Cancer Man/Raul Bloodworth/C.G.B. Spender concluded his little story to Special Agent Fox Mulder by claiming they did what they did so that they would be returned to them--this being their family members. Please remain consistent, Mr. Carter.

D., if you haven't noticed, the consortium must have formed the US foriegn (sp?)
policy, since only they are capable of maintaining the complex contradictions
therein. (One line I'd love to hear: CSM- Well, that depends on what the definition
of 'is' is.)

...and yet the Mountain Folk in Russia think they are going to be immune to it by cutting off their left arms ...

As far as I understood the dialogue in Tunguska/Terma, the Mountain Folks in Russia cut off their arms so they couldn't be traced by the mark of their Small Pox Eradication injection - several ep.s before, Mulder had discovered (With John Smith's help) a giant database of unique IDs with SEP-number. Presumably without IDs to match people definitely, a good experiment is hard to do.

I think there is a little confusion here, at least there was over ten years ago anyway. There's only one working vaccine made by the Russians. The Syndicate tried to make one but the Russians beat them to it. The blonde UN lady only got one vaccine, it just took a while to work, possibly due to her being infected with a different strain that Scully had.

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the rebel aliens were the same race as the colonist aliens, they just disagree with taking over Earth so they sabotage what The Greys and the Syndicate are doing. I have no idea about the bounty hunters; I haven't seen much of them yet.

I also believe the hybrids are so important because not only was that part of the deal the Syndicate made with the Greys but also because they were meant to be the slaves of the colonists. While the black oil virus spread throughout the world the hybrids would be immune and work for the aliens. Cassandra was apparently the first true hybrid, in that she looked human but had alien physiology.

Are they the same race? If they are, why do they have to prevent the black oil from overtaking them, which seems to ooze from some greys when their skin is punctured?

I guess I should say when they're punctured in their "beast" form or combat form or whatever that is.

Josh M: Are they the same race?
You're right Josh, they are not; I was incorrect with that statement a few years ago. Cassandra says that the 'rebels' are a different race when talking to Mulder in that hospital closet, or whatever it was.

I was also not entirely clear about what made Cassandra so specail, since we've came across hybrids before and most of them looked human. She is the first, non-cloned human that was successfully merged with alien physiology, if I understand that situation correctly.

I was still a little taken aback by how unwilling the Syndicate was to aligning themselves with the Rebels. They didn't even consider taking steps to try meeting with them and see what their options were. They were only interested in finishing what they started, even though that meant the end of mankind as they knew it.