John Diehl guest stars in Trevor, an episode written by Jim Guttridge and Kenneth H. Hawryliw that first aired 11 April, 1999.

Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) have an x-file on their hand when a convict, Pinker Rawls (Diehl) escapes from a prison camp during a tornado, after having killed the warden, by seemingly passing through prison walls, and then the warden himself.

The duo initially believe that he is intent on reclaiming ninety thousand dollars, his cut in a heist before he was sent up, and the trail leads to a former partner (now murdered) as well as his ex-girlfriend, June (Catherine Dent) and her sister, Jackie (Tuesday Knight).

The story moves fast, and I’ve always been a fan of Diehl, and he delivers a truly unnerving performance in this episode as he exudes threat, and yet under it, as the story is revealed, there’s a part of him that just wants another chance. But his more dangerous and aggressive instincts get in the way, and now with this unusual ability he gained during the storm, he’s incredibly dangerous.

The series, especially this season, has really started to keep things fresh and even though this is basically another monster of the week episode, there is a measure of pathos in this story that makes the triumph at the end of the episode taste of bitter ashes.

The move to Los Angeles has served the series well, opening the palette of locations and colours while still doing its best to creep us out.

Milagro is a solid, and very interesting story as it toys with thought, creation, love, and murder. The teleplay is by series creator Chris Carter, from a story by John Shiban and Fran Spotnitz. It first debuted on 18 April, 1999.

John Hawkes guest stars as Phillip Padgett, a writer who has taken the apartment next to Mulder to work on his novel. He seems to be fixated on Scully, and may have a very real connection to a series of strange murders occuring that Mulder believes are the result of psychic surgery.

Padgett admits to being taken with Scully, but soon realises that he can’t make her love him, because he’s already in love. The episode is an atmospheric piece on creation, and definitely dances along the line of writeers and their creations, and which one is affected most by the other, and which drives the other.

It’s a different kind of episode, one that works very well and takes its time with its story. I remember first seeing this episode and not really caring for it, over the years, when I come across it this one has begun to grow on me, and in a season of eccentric and different kind of episodes, this one could arguably be the best of the season.

It looks at the characters in a new way, as Padgett projects his own beliefs and intentions on the pair, and fails to see what is really there until it’s too late.

We have four episodes left in the sixth season, but the search goes on because the truth is out there…