8×18 Vienen

As the Galpex Petroleum Orpheus oilrig sits in the Gulf of Mexico, its crew eats dinner in front of the television. They donít notice Mexican worker Simon De La Cruz steal a knife from the kitchen. He slips out to the shipís communication shack and stabs the engineer. When the television fizzles out in the mess hall, Chief Bo Taylor goes to the Comm Shack to find De La Cruz smashing all the radio equipment. He notices the fallen engineerís eyes have welled with the alien black oil. ìNow youíve gone and done it,î Bo says. His face lights up in a blinding white glow that overtakes his entire body. Simon screams in Spanish.

Back at the FBI, Doggett finds Mulder rummaging through the X-file cabinets. Although he is no longer assigned to the office, Mulder believes that a recent death of an oilrig worker exposed to radiation is extraterrestrial-related. Scully calls Doggett to remind him that she is waiting with Kersh and an executive from Galpex Petroleum, who had come when contacted by Mulder. Kersh sends Doggett to the rig. When he arrives, Doggett is angry to see Mulder is already there. In Washington, Scullyís autopsy on Simon shows that he was infected with the black oil, but that his body had some sort of immunity to it. She tells Skinner that they need to evacuate the ship for Doggettís safety, fearful that others may be infected. Scully shows the body to the Galpex executive and orders him to shut down the rig. She is alarmed when he chooses to bring the ship and its crew back to shore. Meanwhile, another sailor named Yuri notices that the radio on the boat is intercepting some strange frequency. Bo attacks Yuri and leaks the black oil on him.

Scully tries to radio Doggett on the oilrig and is surprised when Mulder answers. Doggett orders quarantine from a possible contagion, and Mulder finds that there is one man missing from the shipís manifest. While Mulder and Doggett go out looking for this man, Diego Garza, Doggett attempts to wrestle control of the investigation, and demands to know what the crew might possibly be protecting. Mulder admits to having seen the alien black oil substance. He also believes that the Galpex executive was lying to the FBI because the shipís crew has already drilled the oil that the ship was supposedly looking for. Suddenly, an alarm goes off and the agents see a fire in the Comm Shack. Mulder comes upon the remnants of a molotov cocktail in the Comm Shack, and he is convinced that the fire was set purposefully. Doggett runs to seek another extinguisher and gets pelted over the head by the hiding Diego Garza. Garza slices Doggettís arm and is relieved that the agentís blood is indeed red. He tells Doggett in Spanish that the ìflying shipsî are coming.

Despite Scullyís pleas, Kersh orders the quarantine to be lifted as soon as radio transmission is renewed. In her autopsy, Scully realizes that De La Cruzís Mexican Indian background may have caused his immunity to the alien virus. The crew probably irradiated him because he knew something, and they could not control him.

Doggett convinces Garza that he can help him get off the ship without the crew finding out. Looking for Garza himself is Bo, who attacks Doggett. The chief is about to infect Doggett with the black oil when Mulder saves him. The agents lock themselves in the Comm Shack and try to fix the radio as the black oil infected crew bangs on the door. Mulder holds them off, and Doggett somehow fixes the radio. Scully is waiting on the other end of the transmission to tell them that choppers are on the way. Doggett says that he, Mulder and Garza are the only ones not infected, so the helicopter should not land on the ship. Suddenly, Mulder smashes the radio. Doggett isnít sure if he too is infected, but Mulder explains that the radio is actually making contact with the mother ship. Mysteriously, the crew stops banging on the door. Doggett goes back to find Garza after promising the man he would help him. Garza is dead, charred from radiation. The crew begins to demolish the rig, and Mulder and Doggett run to escape the fires. The agents get to the side of the rig and see the helicopter in the distance. The pilot is mouthing something to them, and they think theyíre being told to jump. As the rig explodes, Mulder and Doggett leap off into the water.

In Washington, Mulder is in the X-files office when Doggett enters. Galpex still intends to keep drilling, and Doggett is prepared to take responsibility for the mishandled case. Yet Mulder says that he has been fired from the FBI, taking the fall for both Doggett and the X-files. ìYouíve seen it,î Mulder says, urging Doggett to prevent any more drilling. Whereas on the oilrig, Doggett wanted Mulder off the case, now he tries to convince him to stay. Mulder leaves the office, telling Doggett ìYouíre in charge here now.î

“VIENEN”
#8ABX18
Original Air Date: 04/29/01

Written by Steven Maeda
Directed by Rod Hardy

Starring:
DAVID DUCHOVNY as Special Agent Fox Mulder
GILLIAN ANDERSON as Special Agent Dana Scully
ROBERT PATRICK as Special Agent John Doggett

Also Starring:
Mitch Pileggi as A.D. Walter Skinner
Miguel Sandoval as Martin Ortega
Casey Biggs as Saksa
Gregory Norman Cruz as Diego Garza
James Pickens, Jr. as Deputy Director Kersh
M.C. Gainey as Bo Taylor
Lee Reherman as Yuri
Luis Villalta as Simon De La Cruz
Kevin C. Loomis as Chef
Steve Wilcox as Ed Dell
Rich Marotta as Hockey Announcer