Season 2, Episode 8: One Breath

Synopsis

Scully arrives under unknown circumstances in a Washington, D.C. hospital, comatose and in critical condition. Her living will includes a condition for euthanasia under certain circumstances. The Lone Gunmen (communicating with a new hacker member named The Thinker via the Internet) say that Scully has abnormal protein chains in the blood, and that it is unlikely her body will be able to fight off the infection.

Mr. X tells Mulder to leave the matter alone after a man steals a blood sample from Scully; however, he kills the man soon after. Mulder believes the Cigarette-Smoking Man is involved in Scully's abduction, and demands that Skinner reveal where he is without success. He gets the Cigarette-Smoking Man's address through a secret message, and goes to confront him. The Cigarette-Smoking Man says Mulder can kill him, but then he'll never known the truth.

Mulder, upset over the complicity he feels in Scully's condition, tenders his resignation from the FBI. Skinner refuses to accept it, telling Mulder about an out-of-body experience he had and how Mulder is willing to look into such things while Skinner isn't. Mr. X tells Mulder that he needs to kill the people behind Scully's abduction, who will break into his apartment looking for information on Scully. Instead, he goes to visit Scully at the hospital; the next morning, she wakens, having no recollection of the events of her abduction.

First time Mulder refers to the CSM as "Cancer Man," which he'll be from now on because it takes less time to type. Melinda McGraw, who plays Melissa Scully, was Barbara Gordon in The Dark Knight.

Episode Body Count

Overcoat Man: executed by Mr. X after trying to steal Scully's blood sample.

Vietnamese boy: Skinner says he killed a 10-year-old boy in the Vietnam War after the boy walked into camp covered with grenades.

Skinner also says his squad was wiped out soon after, but no numbers are given.

Humans: 2
Creatures: 0
Aliens: 0

Cumulative Body Count (32/202 episodes, 0/2 movies)

Humans: 235
Creatures: 11
Aliens: 9

Grand Total: 255