(Two part episode; part 1)
\r\nTime for the X-Files to thicken up the plot even more, with the introduction of… The black oil! It’s possible we’ve seen this before, quite a few episodes back when Mulder and Scully had their first cabin fever moment in the middle of the Arctic, when little worms excreted black oil-like substance, though the two have never actually been referenced together in the X-Files… not yet anyway. So we start with a brief explanation of what’s going on, because this two part episode leaps forward quite a few steps, and does reference another episode.

To start with, we learn that because Krycek is working independently now (after Smoking man tried to kill him for failing to kill Scully), he’s selling secrets that were contained in the digital tape Mulder obtained from the hacker kid. As a result, the French government learn of a location in the Pacific ocean which may contain a downed nuclear sub. This story is confirmed when Scully meets with her fathers friend from the Navy, who informs her that he was once on a mission during the war to find the same sub. However half the crew succumbed to radiation poisoning. The captain was then seen to have the black oil virus. this is the first documented case of the black oil in the X-Files (to date).

When the French crew return many years later, they also receive the same radiation burns, and the main diver becomes infected, passing this onto his wife, and eventually… Krycek. That’s right folks, Krycek now has the black oil! We also learn that anyone with the black oil virus is able to stun people using a beam of light – which causes radiation burns. Mulder goes on the hunt in Japan for the answers only to lead him to Krycek, who informs him he’ll give up the location of the tape.\r\n \r\nMeanwhile, Scully gets news that the case involving her sister’s death has been made inactive. Skinner fights all he can to overrule this decision from above, and attracts some unwanted warnings from some guys from the ‘Intelligence community’ in his favourite Café (This is also the first time we see this Café, soon to become a local haunt for the agents). Next time round, Skinner gets gunned down by an unknown raged customer.

It’s unclear weather this was related to him not heeding the warnings before… but if you look closely.. we’ve seen this man twice before. He was standing next to Krycek when he murdered Melissa, Scully’s sister, and he also jumped Skinner in the hospital. So there are two possible outcomes of the thing in the water – Scully’s belief is that it is indeed a downed sub, carrying a nuclear device which people have been trying to salvage. But since no one knows of the black oil virus yet, this can’t be factor. However it does tie in with Mulder’s theory of the tape detailing the information about what is down there, and the radiation exposure is common in UFO encounters. Who really knows, all we know is that Krycek is infected, Skinners been shot and Mulder has a lead as to where the tape is…. oh and Scully’s still pining for her sister :P