Series creator Chris Carter (who makes a cameo in this episode) penned the teleplay from a story he and David Duchovny developed, and season two of The X-Files came to a conclusion on 19 May, 1995, with Anasazi.

In a Navajo reservation in New Mexico, something that looks like an alien corpse is recovered from a buried train car in the bottom of a quarry. Meanwhile in DC, Mulder (Duchovny) isn’t feeling well, and there are strange, psychotic episodes happening in his apartment building.

He’s approached by the Lone Gunmen about a hacker who wants to meet him, who claims to have the original UFO documents from the Department of Defense. But upon receipt of the files, Mulder is furious because it looks like gibberish – Scully (Gillian Anderson) who is worried about Mulder’s increasingly irrational behaviour, realises it’s in a variation of Navajo, and can be broken by code talkers.

While Scully chases down that lead, we learn that Mulder’s father, Bill (Peter Donat) was involved in ‘the project’ alongside CSM (William B. Davis) and after Mulder goes to see him, he ends up dead at the hands of Krycek (Nicholas Lea) – all before his father can reveal (some version of) the truth to him.

Tensions escalate, and Scully has to wound Mulder before he commits a murder of his own.

Awaking in New Mexico, Mulder goes to investigate the quarry, while Scully has to return to face Skinner (Mitch Pileggi). In the train car, Mulder and Scully have a conversation via cell phone (what reception!) where they share tantalising facts, the partly translated documents Scully has mention merchandise, vaccines, tests, and even mentions her name in later entries.

Mulder, however, seems to be face to face with a pile of alien corpses…

But before the investigation can go further, CSM arrives and blows up the buried train car, with Mulder inside plunging us into a To Be Continued…

A great season finale, and I remember ruminating on this one for a good portion of the summer after this one aired.

The tag of the opening credits is in Navajo, but still reads ‘The Truth is Out There.’ And I would begin the search anew on…

22 September, 1995.

Season three of The X-Files got underway with the episode, The Blessing Way.

As the hunt for Mulder continues (he’s presumed dead) we are introduced to The Syndicate, and Scully keeps digging for the truth, despite everyone around her attempting to obfuscate it.

But it also sees the removal of a chip in the back of her neck, which was apparently implanted there during her own production. Something that she goes through hypnotic regression to learn more about.

The episode was written by Carter, and brings more family members into the arc as both Mrs. Scully (Sheila Larken) and Melissa (Melinda McGraw) make an appearance, a fatal one for Melissa, when Krycek resurfaces again.

Mulder is recovered by Albert Hosteen (Floyd ‘Red Crow’ Westerman) and his fellows, having hidden during CSM’s explosive attack, and is watched over with a blessing way chant, which adds a metaphysical side to the event as some familiar faces visit Mulder during the ritual.

When Mulder returns, he confronts his mother (Rebecca Toolan) about his father’s work, and has a picture from the early 70s as an aid (amongst those in the picture are syndicate members CSM and the Well Manicured Man (John Neville)) – which will lead into the next episode…

We are given another To Be Continued ending as Scully and Skinner draw down on one another, unsure of who they can trust. But I’ll have to wait until Thursday to find out what happens as my search for the truth continues, because, you know, it’s out there…