In the season finale, Mulder and Scully investigate possible alien activity in Oregon, while an FBI auditor examines their expenses.

Bureaucracy of the Sublime

Mulder: Stick to a budget and they say you're making a contribution. Push the limits of your profession and they say you're out of control.

Nurse: What are you doing?    More Stories X-Files Gets Eighth Season The X-Files - 'Requiem' (spoilers) 'Je Souhaite' Makes Us Wish for Better X-Files Doppelgangers Wreak Havoc in X-Files 'Fight Club'    Related Links The X-Files (official) Krycek: Sending the devil back to hell. Cigarette Smoking Man: As you do to Mulder and to me, you do to all of mankind,Alex.

Auditor Chesty Short: Nowadays, the most advanced space exploration isdone from an office, Agent Mulder.

Written by Chris Carter
Directed by Kim Manners

William B. Davis - The Cigarette Smoking Man
Nicholas Lea - Alex "Ratboy" Krycek
Laurie Holden - Marita "Uniblonde" Covarrubias
Andy Umberger - Agent Chesty Short
Harwood Melvin - Frohike
Tom Braidwood - John Byers
Dean Haglund - Ringo Langly
Brian Thompson - Alien Bounty Hunter
Leon Russom - Detective Miles
Peter MacDissi - Prison Guard
Zachary Ansley - Billy Miles
Eddie Kaye Thomas - 1st Young Man
Judd Trichter - 2nd Young Man/Richie Szalay
Darin Cooper - Deputy Ray Hoese
Sarah Koskoff - Teresa Hoese
Gretchen Becker - Greta Bruce
Grace & Kelly Demontesquiou - Baby

Bellefleur, Oregon. Night. A sheriff drives through a wooded area. He tries to radio another police car. No response. Suddenly the car's lights die and the brakes fail. The sheriff crashes into the other cop car. He steps out dazed, and sees his colleague, Ray, motionless in the other car. His face has been gored.

"Requiem" is intriguing. It gives enticing glimpses of alien technology and of arcane maneuvering within a once-thriving conspiracy. It ties into the very first X-Files episode, some seven years ago, in a salutary effort at continuity and follow-up. And it leaves Mulder and Scully in new and remarkable situations.

That the episode works is all the more an achievement given that its plot was clearly shaped by David Duchovny's new contract. (He'll be appearing as Mulder in only half of next season's episodes.)

Cigarette Smoking Man is an atheist, albeit one who recognizes (how could he not?) an intelligence that seems to be greater than our own.

Who's the lucky guy?

For the eighth and almost certainly final season premiere of the series. What's it about? Who is the lucky guy? We'll know more by November.