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FIGHT THE FUTURE

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Scully’s reporting to Skinner and a group of other agents, going over Mr. Crouch’s record. She notes that he retired after a “sterling 21-year career with the Bureau.” I note that she’s wearing very small pearl earrings. So matronly! She also reports that he apparently killed himself with his service weapon in his garage earlier in the month. We’re treated to a picture of this, where we can’t help but note that the poor man died in just his boxer shorts. The other agents at the table present measured, reasonable information (that he had no known enemies, no outstanding debt), which makes us know that soon, Mr. Mulder will be treating us to his special brand of Crazy with his theory on what happened. Sure enough, when Skinner asks Mulder what his take is on this case is, he informs the group that what he believes occurred was necromancy.

The agents shift uncomfortably (though they are probably thinking, “at least it’s not a goat-sucker”), and he explains that necromancy is “a form of magic dating back to primitive Shamanism with a long tradition in the Christian church. Through it, the dead are brought back to life for the purposes of divulging arcane knowledge or performing ritual tasks.” He also shows them a picture of an almost-totally-washed-away circle of goat’s blood around the dug-up grave, pointing out that in necromancy, “the blood attracts the spirits of the undead while the circle focuses the necromancer's power while protecting him from the spirits that he's conjuring.” Um, whatever, most of us are still wondering where Mr. Important got goat blood. He notes that necromancers sometimes like to bond with their undead by wearing their clothes. He makes a dry cleaning joke that falls flat. The other agents just want to get to work on the case and get away from the creepy, hot Agent Mulder. Skinner dismisses them but keeps Mulder and Scully back for a minute. “Necromancy aside,” he says – he’s clearly gotten good at just ignoring Mulder’s theories until more evidence has been uncovered -- “this magic circle you mentioned -- what if it looked something like this?”

Here’s where I get really excited, then really pissed. That’s a common chain of emotions for me while I’m watching the X-Files, especially when something from the past turns up in an episode that could, if brought up again, make the show so much richer and more developed… but then it doesn’t. In this case, Skinner shows them a drawing of an oroborous, a snake eating its own tail. We might remember that Scully HAS THIS EXACT SYMBOL TATTOOED on her lower back. You might remember this if you were a casual viewer of the show… or you might remember this if you were a WRITER or CREATOR of the show. One might even argue that it’s your job to remember things like permanent body art. But alas, I complain in vain and drink up my glass of whine. And hey, I think, maybe it’s just that Scully doesn’t want to cry out in a professional work meeting, “Like, oh my god! I’ve got one of those near my ass!” Maybe it will come up later in the episode. And maybe Chris Carter’s tan is natural.

Mulder says that the oroborous is a mystical sign symbolizing all of existence. Skinner introduces us to the idea of the Millennium Group. Scully, bland-faced, apparently not thinking about the orgasmic and drunken night she spent getting a tattoo with the well-muscled and dangerous man she picked up in Philly, tells us that the Group consisted of “former FBI agents who offered consulting services to law enforcement. Somehow, they fell into disrepute.” The oroborous was their symbol. “They operated in extreme secrecy. Rumors abounded that they had their own agenda which was less than altruistic, if not improper or illegal,” Skinner says. And damn, that’s the fifth or sixth time the word ‘rumors’ has been mentioned. Is that going to be the theme of tonight’s episode or what? Mulder tells us that the rumors were that the Millennium Group “was, in fact, a cult based upon Judeo-Christian ‘End Time’ prophecies concerning the coming millennium.” Skinner provides us with our last bit of exposition: there have been three other similar grave desecrations in the last three months. All three were recent suicides of FBI agents, in far-flung states. This is quite sensitive, he reminds our agents, because the dead were FBI men. Oh, and he also mentions that the Millennium Group “apparently” “dissolved” several months ago. Since those of us who saw the commercials before this episode know that it’s a crossover with the failed Chris Carter series “Millennium” (or if you’re watching years later and know this from whatever XF lore you’ve picked up), we have a feeling that the Millennium Group didn’t disband… it just somehow mooched off the X-Files for a guest show so that it could wrap up some of its story lines. Mulder thinks he knows where to start this investigation. On Scully’s lower back, perhaps?