The Blessing Way

Mulder visits some deceased friends during the Blessing Way chant.

TITLE INFORMATION
The "Blessing Way" ceremony is the ceremony performed in this episode by Albert Hosteen on Mulder.

TAG LINE
The Truth Is Out There.

SYNOPSIS

... from previous episode. The Cigarette Smoking Man leads his team of soldiers to burn the boxcar with Mulder trapped inside, but Mulder finds a tunnel through the rocks. Later, Albert Hosteen, his son, and his grandson, Eric, are beaten by the soldiers at their home. Scully pays a visit to the boxcar but turns up with nothing. She then discovers the beaten Albert, and makes her way back to Washington where she is detained by the passengers of an unmarked black helicopter and the printed files are taken from her. She is asked for the DAT copy, but she tells the government soldiers that Mulder had it, and that he is dead. Back at the FBI, Scully is granted a mandatory leave of absence until a review panel is able to investigate the nature of her insubordination. Scully returns home to her mother, whom she tells she made a mistake in arguing and betraying her superiors. Later, Frohike shows up at her apartment, and informs her that The Thinker was professionally executed ... by unknown assailants. Scully goes to tell Skinner the news, but Skinner shows interest in only the DAT tape, even when Scully makes the connection that The Thinker and Mulder may have been killed by the same men. Meanwhile, Albert Hosteen discovers the tunnel that Mulder is in, as he had done so when he was a young boy. Mulder is taken to a Navajo hogan (a dome of mud, like an igloo) where they perform a ritual which heals the wounded. It is called "The Blessing Way." As the ceremony is performed, Mulder's soul encounters visions of people from his past, namely Deep Throat and his dead father, Bill. Three days after the ritual was begun, Mulder regains consciousness. Back at the FBI, Scully stops at a security checkpoint, and goes through a metal detector which mysteriously goes off. She asks a guard to wave a magnetic wand over her body, and when it goes over her neck it is set off. Scully pays a visit to the medical lab where she gets a physician to remove a piece of metal from her neck - which turns out to be a computer chip. She shows her sister, Melissa, the chip. Melissa convinces her to visit a hypnotherapist who she believes can help her remember how the chip was put in her neck. Scully accepts the offer and, once under hypnosis, she recounts visions of men, bright lights, and experiments. Mulder, in the meantime, has recovered from the incident in the boxcar and he returns to his mother's home where is searches for clues pertaining to his father's work and the men he worked with. He is certain that they will lead him to Samantha, his missing sister. Scully attends the funeral for Bill Mulder, on behalf of Mulder who she believes is alive. She tells Teena Mulder that she thinks her son his alive, but Scully is interrupted by the man who we will come to know as the Well Manicured Man. He tells her that Mulder is, indeed, dead, and that Scully herself is the target of a murder. As Scully returns home, she notices Skinner coming out of her apartment. They both drive to Mulder's apartment and, when Skinner least expects it, Scully pulls her gun. She demands answers to her questions from Skinner. Meanwhile, Alex Krycek searches through Scully's apartment. While Scully is gone, Melissa makes her way into the home. Assisted by Luis Cardinal, Krycek kills Melissa mistakenly, then rigs the scene to make it look like a suicide. He and Cardinal rush from the scene of the crime. Scully is still holding Skinner at gunpoint, demanding answers for the DAT tape and the death of Mulder. As someone shuffles around outside and prepares to open the door, Skinner catches Scully off-guard and pulls his own gun. The door opens, but we do not see who is behind it. To be continued ...

MY THOUGHTS

I think it's unanimous - this was a good, solid way to bring Mulder back from the dead. However, after having said that, it was certainly a bad idea to try and make out that he is dead in the first place. Oh, well, I guess it shouldn't really be taken as a standalone episode but as a part of the whole.

Undeniably, it was not a good episode, especially not a good season premiere. It surely would have been absolutely pathetic and non-understandable for any newcomers to the X-Files phenomenon. But I feel that it was more of a reward to fans. A way of saying, "We're back, and we're getting bigger all the time."

I kinda just thought it sucked to be honest. This is such a lame ass season opener i can't even beleive it. Just think they had all summer to think this crap up

MY RATING
6.5/ 10