Paper Clip

Scully finds some files ... lots and lots of files.

TITLE INFORMATION Operation "Paper Clip" was the title of an operation which was reffered to in this episode.

TAG LINE
The Truth Is Out There.

SYNOPSIS

.. from the previous episode. The stand-off between Scully and Skinner continues, in the fight for the stolen DAT tape. Someone is at the door, and the door suddenly opens. Stepping inside the room is none other than - - Mulder! He orders Skinner to drop the gun, which Skinner does as he is outnumbered. He then pulls out the DAT tape containing the secret government files, realizing that the tape is the only evidence that he, Scully, and Mulder have of brining Bill Mulder's assassin(s) to justice. He insists on keeping the tape himself, as if Mulder or Scully should be caught then it would be lost. Meanwhile, Mulder and Scully examine a photograph given to them by Teena Mulder of some of Bill Mulder's government colleagues from his younger days. They enlist the help of the Lone Gunmen, who are able to aid them in identifying a man in the photo known as Victor Klemper. Klemper, a Nazi War criminal, was a participant in Operation Paper Clip - a government operation which provided a safe haven for war criminals in exchange for their scientific knowledge. Scully then learns that Melissa is in critical condition in hospital after she was shot by Alex Krycek and Luis Cardinal. But Scully fears an ambush by assassins or government operatives, and so she joins Mulder in locating Victor Klemper. They manage to contact him but they get next to no information out of him - except that the photograph was taken at the Strughold Mining Company in West Virginia. He tells them of Napier's Constant, the base of all natural algorithms. Mulder and Scully pay a visit to the mine, and they discover metal doors which are built into the walls of a mountainside. They gain access into the electronic doors by entering Napier's Constant into a keypad next to them. Inside the doors, there is a seemingly endless row of filing cabinets which contain files and tissue samples on millions of United States citizens. Mulder ventures outside, where he is met and buzzed by a UFO, while Scully remains inside where tens of what appear to be aliens run past her. Outside, a government hit squad surrounds the mine. Mulder is fired at, and he runs for cover, finding an escape route with Scully. They are able to make their way to safety. Skinner then visits Melissa in the hospital where she is being monitored. He meets Margaret Scully there, and Albert Hosteen who was called in to pray for Melissa. Skinner's attention is diverted to a shadowy figure monitoring the room. He chases the figure into a stairwell where he is attacked by Krycek and Luis Cardinal. Overpowering Skinner, they make off with the DAT tape. Krycek is later abandoned by Cardinal at a petrol station, and the car he is in blows up but not before he manages to escape. Mulder and Scully then decide to question Klemper again but, upon arrival, they are met by the Well Manicured Man who tells them that Victor Klemper is dead. Mulder recognizes the Well Manicured Man as one of the people in his father's photograph. The Well Manicured man tells them that, in 1947, a UFO was reportedly recovered in New Mexico - an event which co-incided with the formation of Operation Paper Clip. Mulder's suspicion leans towards the fact that Klemper was experimenting with the creation of a super-race of humans - the amalgamation of alien DNA with human DNA. The files stored in the mountain are vaccination records on millions of citizens who received smallpox vaccinations. They are a database of DNA records of everone born since the 1950s. Skinner meets with the Cigarette Smoking Man and threatens to expose him if Mulder or Scully are harmed. He tells him that Albert Hosteen - who read the DAT tape contents - spread the information amongst his Navajo people in the "ancient oral tradition, chapter and verse, file for file." Mulder later pays Scully a visit in the hospital, where she tells him that she was regrettably absent when Melissa passed away earlier. Part III of III.

MY THOUGHTS

Definitely the best part of this trilogy, this episode has so many cool things in it - aliens, UFOs, conspiracies ... the list goes on. John Neville's portrayal of the Well Manicured Man is great, as was the character of Victor Klemper. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode.

I like it,I love it,I want some more of it... This is the stuff that makes the X-files.. This episode has it all

MY RATING
9.5/ 10