The X-Files/Recap/S01/E01

In Bellefleur, Oregon, teenager Karen Swenson is seen fleeing through the forest. When she falls, a dark figure approaches, and they both become enveloped in light. Swenson's body is later found by Bellefleur detectives, with two small marks on her back.

Later, in Washington, D.C., FBI Special Agent Dana Scully is summoned to a meeting with Division Chief Scott Blevins and a seemingly anonymous government official, The Smoking Man. She is assigned to work with Special Agent Fox Mulder on the X-Files, an obscure FBI section covering purportedly paranormal cases. Blevins has assigned Scully for the implicit purpose of using her scientific knowledge to debunk Mulder's work, although Blevins never directly tells Scully this and is evasive when she asks if such is his intent. Scully introduces herself to Mulder, who shows her evidence from the Swenson case. He notes that she was the fourth member of her high school class to die under mysterious circumstances. Mulder also notes an unknown chemical compound found on her body, as well as similarities between her death and others from across the country. Mulder believes that Swenson's death is due to extraterrestrial activity. However, the skeptical Scully expresses disbelief in Mulder's theory.

When Mulder and Scully's plane flies over Bellefleur, it encounters unexplained turbulence. As they drive in the woods near the town, the agents' car radio malfunctions; Mulder marks the spot of this event by spray-painting an "X" onto the road. Mulder arranges for the exhumation of the third victim, Ray Soames, despite the protests of Dr. Jay Nemman, the county medical examiner. When Soames' coffin is opened, a deformed body is found inside, which Scully concludes is not Soames, but an orangutan. However, she finds a metal implant in the body's nasal cavity. Mulder and Scully visit the psychiatric hospital where Soames was committed before his death and meet two of Soames' former classmates—the comatose Billy Miles; and the wheelchair-using Peggy O'Dell. O'Dell suffers from a nosebleed during the agents' visit, and is seen to bear marks similar to Swenson's. Outside the hospital, Mulder explains to Scully that he believes Miles, O'Dell, and the victims to be alien abductees.

That night, the agents investigate the forest; Scully discovers strange ash on the ground, leading her to suspect cult activity. However, a local detective arrives and orders them to leave. Driving back to their motel, Mulder and Scully encounter a flash of light at the spot their car had malfunctioned earlier. When the car loses power, Mulder realizes that nine minutes disappeared after the flash, a phenomenon reported by alien abductees.

At the motel, Mulder tells Scully that his sister Samantha vanished when he was twelve, which has driven his work in the paranormal. The agents receive an anonymous call telling them that O'Dell has been killed in traffic while on foot. They visit the scene, finding O'Dell's body and no wheelchair. They return to find the motel on fire and their evidence destroyed. Nemman's daughter Theresa contacts the agents for help. She tells them that she has awakened in the middle of the woods several times, though her father and the detective, revealed to be Billy Miles' father, arrive and take her away. The agents return to the cemetery to exhume the other victims, only to find the graves already dug up and the coffins missing. Mulder realizes that Billy is responsible for bringing the victims to the woods. Returning to the woods, they again encounter Detective Miles, but hear a scream and find Billy nearby with Theresa in his arms. There is a flash of light, and Billy and Theresa are recovered unharmed.

Several months later, Miles is put under hypnosis. He recalls how he and his classmates were abducted in the forest as they celebrated their graduation; they were subjected to tests by the aliens, and started killing them when the tests failed. Scully provides Blevins with the metal implant, the only remaining piece of evidence. However, she later learns from Mulder that Miles' case files are missing. Meanwhile, The Smoking Man stores the implant away in a vast evidence room within the Pentagon.


 * Alien Autopsy - Scully is going to perform an autopsy on what looks like an alien corpse, but it's taken by the government before she can discover what exactly it is.
 * Candlelit Bath - Subverted. Scully draws one when the power goes out, but notices some unsettling marks on her back before she actually gets in it.
 * Chilly Reception - Scully initially gets this from Mulder.
 * Establishing Character Moment: Mulder sitting alone at his desk in his basement office, obsessing over photographs of UFOs.
 * Evil Cripple
 * Fiery Coverup - The hotel where Mulder and Scully are staying gets torched while they're out, conveniently destroying all their evidence.
 * Grave Robbing - The local sheriff accuses them of doing this, despite the fact that they have a permit to exhume the graves of the victims.
 * Missing Time - They experience this more than once.
 * Put Down Your Gun and Step Away
 * Secret Government Warehouse - The Cigarette-Smoking Man is seen depositing Scully's report in one at the end of the episode.