Within

After the paralysing but very good finale of the seventh season, Chris Carter brought us a perfect mix of character development, the X-Files Mythology in a new look, many surprises, action and mystery.

Let us begin with the opening scene. Heart beating can be heard, we see nothing but some thing in a honey-like liquid. I personally thought first that this is maybe Scully's baby. But then, surprisingly we see Mulder in this liquid with a flexible tube in his mouth. The tube is pulled out of Mulder's mouth and he begins to gasp and to cough. It seems Mulder lies on a kind of table, but we can't exactly see where he is. Of course, we all suggest this is a UFO, Mulder's lying in. Scully now wakes up, re-finding herself in a hospital bed, breathing deep and loud. Then the intro begins…
Just two short sentences to Scully: It seems this is still the hospital from the last episode "Requiem", so it can't be much later. But was this only a dream or a real vision of Mulder?

Carter did a great job on the intro. To put Doggett into it was a great idea, although his (and DD's) photo seems a little odd. No matter… This new Intro tells you everything about the new season: old-fashioned but in a new style, the season concentrates on Scully's pregnancy and Mulder is lost and almost forgotten.

The first scene is a very touching-your-heart scene: Scully is watching herself in a mirror with her shirt open. The impressing underline of Snow's song (Scully's Theme is the title) shows us how Scully feels in this situation, looking at her coming baby. She obviously feels lonely and thinks that this can't be true. We remember the Episode "Christmas Carol" 5x05, where Scully tells her mother she will never be able to get a child, because of her abduction in Season Two. Scully feels responsible for Emily and in the end we found out that Scully is Emily's mother and Scully lost her baby. But back to the song: This song escorts us through the whole episode and of course through the next episode "Without".

The next surprising thing is that Kersh is now Deputy Director and Skinner and Scully have to observe his instructions. And finally, Kersh tells both a new agent is assigned to help finding Mulder - it is Doggett. The introduction of John Doggett is funny but has to be taken serious. I think, Doggett made Scully a little bit sad of telling about Mulder. Scully has surely a reason not to trust Doggett and to ignore him. But on the other hand she seems to be interested in him and searches the FBI Net. Again, we see a very touching scene with the song, where Scully runs into her bath and retches. She then calls her mother to talk to her, but she only can talk to the mailbox. Scully tries to describe how she feels at the moment and wants to tell her something very private (of course, she means her pregnancy).
She hears that somebody bugs the line, but outside, she just meets her landlord, who tells her he saw Mulder in there.

Again we hear this special song and Scully's in Mulder's room and she takes his shirt or something and goes to the bed. This is a very special scene in this episode, because Scully seems to feel safe in here and that this is the only place where she wants to be.
*It's a very shippy scene, although Mulder is even there*
While Scully is sleeping in Mulder's bed, Skinner meets with the Lone Gunmen and they discuss how to find the UFO and Mulder. Skinner now trusts in the LG, since they found the UFO in Requiem with Krycek and Coverrubias. I missed both of them, Chris Carter did neither told us about CSM nor about the new conspiracy. We'll maybe find out in the next mythology-episode "The Gift" (8X13). The airdate is February, the 4th. But that can change.

Doggett now wakes Scully in Mulder's bed and they talk about their theories. Doggett is not really the sceptic Scully was, but he doesn't want to believe Mulder's abducted by aliens without a proof. Their conversation is interrupted by a phone call and Scully and Doggett have to go to the FBI headquarters, where Skinner is asked about who broke into the department and stole some files with Agent Mulder's card last night. Doggett believes Scully Skinner didn't stole all those files, but he shows Scully something. A headstone.

The headstone of the family Mulder has been removed from the graveyard to show Scully a new name on it - Mulder's.
And Chris Carter did again shock all the X-Files fans with Mulder's headstone showing his death in 2000. That remembers very hard Season Two, where Scully has also been abducted and her headstone has also been made. So, Chris Carter didn't think of a new story, he just stole this from an older one. But as I said, this is the old-fashioned X-Files in a new style.

Doggett, Scully and Skinner now have another conversation about Mulder and his abduction. Doggett says he understands Mulder now, why he made his headstone. Mulder knew he was dying and he knew it is not far away. Skinner does not believe that and thinks Mulder would have told at least Scully about it. But Scully reads the documents about Mulder's medical tests and believes Doggett. I think from this moment on, where Doggett shows Scully Mulder was maybe not the person Scully thought he was, she trusts him more and more.

Skinner wants to re-convince Scully and shows her a map with the last UFO activities, which now are in the Arizona Desert. Scully realizes why the files are gone and why they are now in Arizona. She thinks the aliens stole all the proof Agent Mulder collected through the years. And they now want to steal the hardest proof of their existence - a boy with alien DNA. As Scully speaks we see Doggett on his desk and a file is pushed under the door in this room. He gets up and picks the file up from the ground. He opens it and we see a picture of Gibson Praise. In this moment Scully continues her speech and names the boy.
Firstly, we have a complete new theory. Scully's new theory is it has never been Mulder, collecting all those stuff about aliens, but them! This is a very new aspect in the show, but I don't think, that Carter will pick it up again and he won't let Scully find more proofs about this theory. Last theory was a more complex theory. In The Sixth Extinction 7X03/04 Scully believed that the Aliens were the ones who lived on earth before us and on this ship she found the human genetic, sentences of the bible and other things. This theory was a very new theory and it was not Carter who imagined it, but any professor (I mean a serious person).

Secondly, he's back. Gibson Praise, last seen in The Beginning (6x01) in the Arizona Power Station. The search for Gibson Praise begins and it doesn't last long. Doggett and his colleagues search his school for the hearing impaired with a helicopter and Skinner and Scully use their car. As Doggett arrives, Gibson has disappeared and Doggett meets Scully and Skinner. Scully isn't really happy to see him and Doggett runs out of the building into the desert. Finally, he finds Gibson who is hold by a man we don't see. Doggett points his gun at the man and shouts "Let him go, Mulder". And it's really Mulder, looking a little bit strange.
TO BE CONTINUED…

The whole episode has a balance of action and sadness and trust. Chris Carter wrote this script so fantastic and so exciting and thrilling that you have to see the whole episode. But this particular last scene is boring after seen the episode. There is just Mulder standing there holding Gibson Praise and Doggett pointing his gun at him. Also, you can see this is not the Agent Mulder, this can only be the Bounty Hunter. If this whole episode hasn't his specific excitement and many questions have already been answered, I could wait for the next episode longer than a week. But it has this excitement and questions have not already been answered and that is why I cannot wait to see the next episode "Without" longer than a week.