Series creator Chris Carter launched the eighth season of The X-Files with Within, which first aired on 5 November, 2000.

Scully (Gillian Anderson), while still learning to deal with the news that she may be pregnant, is suffering from nightmares about what may be happening to the abducted Mulder (David Duchnovy). She and Skinner get pulled into the offices of the new Deputy Director… say hello to the new boss, same as the old boss, Kersh (James Pickens jr.) is back, who has assigned Special Agent John Doggett (Robert Patrick) to head the task force to find Mulder.

An uneasy alliance begins to form between Doggett and Scully, the former military officer and NYPD cop is by the book, but is relentless in his pursuit of the truth, even if it leads to something he can’t explain.

Someone, or something, is removing all of the documented evidence and proof of the existence of aliens, but with the help of Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and The Lone Gunmen, Scully thinks she knows where the evidence trail will lead next, back to Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka), who may be the living proof of alien involvment with our species.

The hunt is on to see who can reach Gibson first, but we’re left with a dizzying cliffhanger, when Gibson is abducted from his school, and Doggett gives chase, only to come face to face with the boy in the company of what appears to be…. Mulder.

Welcome to the first To Be Continued of the eighth season, and it was definitely a doozy. But come on, we all know it’s not Mulder, which means it must mean…

… the Alien Bounty Hunter (Brian Thompson) is back! In the episode Without, also written by Carter, the Bounty Hunter causes a lot of conflict in the search for Gibson and Mulder, and throws Doggett right into the middle of something that he doesnt quite believe.

Scully tracks Gibson down, and works to keep him safe, but when you have a being that can look like anyone, who can you trust?

This follow-up to the season opener is tense, brisk, and also sets up Doggett as a strong character, even if he doesn’t believe everything that Scully has been exposed to. His job on the task force comes into jeopardy with Kersh, when he files his report, and he consequently finds himself assigned to the x-files.

As Gibson is safely tucked away into protective custody, we are given a glance of Mulder (is it another one of Scully’s nightmares?) trapped in a chair, being experimented on, surrounded by a number of the Bounty Hunters.

Are they using him? Will Mulder safely return? And how will Doggett handle the cases that are yet to come? He’d better brace himself as he joins Scully, because the truth is out there.