The x-files have been closed down.

Agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) have been separated and reassigned. Mulder is on a routine listening assignment, and Scully is teaching at the Academy (and Anderson is still very pregnant).

They are forced to meet surreptitiously and Scully realises how broken Mulder may be at this point. Things change when he is contacted by Senator Richard Matheson (Raymond J. Barry) about a signal received at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (which looks uncannily like Vancouver) and Mulder leaves his assignment to investigate…

Little Green Men was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, and launched season two on 16 September, 1994.

Arriving in Puerto Rico, Mulder comes as close as he ever has to an extraterrestrial encounter. Or is it? This episode introduced me to the story of the ‘wow’ signal which is damned cool, while also changing the way the series presents the abduction of his sister, Samantha (Vanessa Morley).

All the pieces now seem to be on the board, the series has a trademark voice over opening, Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) makes an appearance as does CSM (William B. Davis).

I highly enjoy this episode, and I love how much Mulder wants to believe, and wants an encounter, but when it starts to happen, he is terrified and fears it. The unknown can still terrify him.

Scully meanwhile attempts to track down her AWOL former partner, will she arrive before its too late? And will what they find be enough to refocus Mulder on working to get the x-files opened again?

The Host, the first monster of the week episode of season two, delivers a great X-files story, and an iconic monster with ‘fluke man’ (Darin Morgan – who would go on to write some classic episodes).

First airing on 23 September, 1994, The Host was written by series creator Chris Carter.

When Mulder is assigned the case by Skinner, he thinks he’s being jerked around as punishment, but as he delves into the case, he finds there’s something there. He reaches out to Scully to conduct an autopsy on one of the fluke man’s victims, and they both discover frightening things.

After confrontations with Skinner, the Assistant Director admits to Mulder that he and Scully would have been able to work this case had the X-files still been open, instead, Mulder works with one hand tied behind his back throughout, while occasionally getting some help from his former partner.

The episode also introduces X (Steven Williams) – Deep Throat’s apparent replacement, who insists that the X-files be reopened. It’s a great follow-up to the season opener, developing its characters and building on the continuity of the series while delivering a truly scary monster,

And they will be, but Mulder and Scully are going to have to work for it, as season two continues. Remember, the truth is out there…