Despite the lack of posts to the contrary somehow I doubt I'm the first to comment on this ep, and I may have before but it's no longer here. Is there an X-Files archive somewhere that I haven't seen?

Anywho, these were a great couple of eps but they could've gone a good deal differently in favor of the 'good guys' for once. Everybody seems to have all advantages except for Mulder & Scully but the FBI really is a force to be reckoned with, and it's quite the disservice to them by not showing that. Giving up Sgt. Frish to the military because the Joint Chiefs say so for example. Last I checked, the Dept. of Justice is a much more significant authority on matters of the law than the Dept. of Defense.

Twice Phil brings up the main 'conspirator' of this ep and his reoccuring bloody pants in the Guide. While it is a contrived plot point I believe the guy was wearing jeans at the bar and his blood stain is a simple matter of a poor dressing job. Another contrived point is Mulder thinking closing the lavatory door and putting a beverage cart in front of it is going to stop that man from getting out. FBI agents are suppose to carry handcuffs!

Regarding the shooting at the bar, it is proper procedure to remove the threat first, to limit the number of possible dead/injured, then tend to wounded; Scully did the opposite by checking on Frish and Pendrell first.

I may be wrong about this but I don't believe Mulder would've received those radiation burns because water acts as a natural barrier. Those other guys maybe, because we don't see the extent of their exposure, but Mulder I don't think so, especially on the back of his head.