Address: At the time of Samantha’s smallpox vaccination the family lived at 62 Greer Street, Martha’s Vineyard (“Paper Clip”), but at the time of Samantha’s abduction the address is given as 2790 Vine Street, Chilmark, which is also on Martha’s Vineyard (“Conduit”). Mulder’s file in Dreamland II shows that Mulder was born in the Vineyard, too, since his place of birth is given as Chilmark. (It must have been a home birth, given the lack of medical facilities in that tiny place. ) For more on the area, see the Martha’s Vineyard section.
Summer House: The Mulder had a summer place at Quonochontaug, Rhode Island. This overlooked a cliff above the sea, where Bill Mulder and his friend Cancerman used to enjoy waterskiing. This is still in the family’s possession even two years after Bill Mulder’s death, even though Mulder’s mother swore never to go there again. Does Mulder own it? Why is it still completely full of clothes, books etc if no-one ever goes there?
In “Demons” we learn that this summer house was the scene of some heated discussions between the Mulders as to which of their children should be taken.
Home videos: In “Dreamland II,” we learn that the Mulder family made home videos of their children playing – dressing up as Star Trek characters, and so on. This was before 1973 – before Samantha as taken. Looks like a normal childhood, really…
Divorce: Mulder’s parents are divorced (“Talitha Cumi” – though we already knew they were separated). As Mulder says that Samantha’s disappearance “tore the family apart” this is presumably one of the results. Mrs Mulder tells her son she hated her husband for what happened over Samantha’s disappearance. Mulder’s father lives on Martha’s Vineyard, at West Tisbury, in a house he bought after the divorce, while his mother lives in Connecticut.
In 1990, we learn in “Travelers,” Mulder and his father “don’t really speak.”
Bill Mulder
Date of birth: Unknown. Seems to be in his early twenties in 1953 (“Apocrypha”) but also in his early twenties in 1962 (“Musings…”)
Date of death: April 13th 1995. Shot in the head in his bathroom by Alex Krycek, probably, although Krycek claims he didn’t do it. Buried in Parkway Cemetery, Boston around 22nd April, or thereabouts.
Address: After his divorce, he moved down the road to West Tisbury, which is where he was living at the time of his death. See the X-Files places page for a brief description of this house.
Personal stuff: He drinks whisky, which he seems to cling to in moments of stress (“Anasazi”). Many authors have deduced from this that he had some sort of drink problem, and suggested that Mulder’s own reluctance to drink is caused by this.
He smokes.
At the time of his death, he was taking “medication.”
Like his son, he likes to crunch sunflower seeds. In “Aubrey” Mulder says how he used to wake up convinced he was the only person left alive in the world, until reassured by the sound of his father eating seeds. He wonders if he inherited his taste for the things from his father.
He is a fairly good water-skier, though not as good as his friend Cancerman (“Talitha Cumi”)
The Project: As far as Mulder was concerned, his father worked for the State department. From “Anasazi” onwards, however, we find out Bill Mulder was involved in the same project as Cancerman.
So far, what we know is that Bill Mulder authorized the project, whatever this project is. Cancerman tells Mulder his father authorized it, and in “Musings….” it is referred to as “Bill Mulder’s project.” Later we learn that Bill Mulder’s part of it was to initiate the attempts to find a vaccine against the black cancer.
In “Musings” he is shown as a friend of Cancerman – a Green Beret captain in 1962. He was stationed at Fort Bragg. This is of course incompatible with the scene in “Apocrypha” where a young Bill, Cancerman and Deep Throat are being very “Them-ish” even back in 1952.
Also in 1952, in “Travelers,” Bill Mulder is shown as working for the State Department, involved in the experiments that graft some strange creature to the throats of humans, thus turning them into killing machines. He claims that he is only following orders. He does, however, seem to have at least some conscience about it. “The crimes these men have committed against innocent people,” he says. “I can’t have them on my conscience anymore. Someone needs to know the truth.” Later, he lets Edward Skur, the experimental subject he was supposed to kill, go (although this is rather silly, really, considering that Skur is now incapable of not killing. Oh well….). His reason for doing this is supposed to be that “by letting him live, the truth of the crimes that were committed against him and the others might someday be exposed.”
“Two Fathers / One Son” reveals that Bill Mulder disagreed with the rest of the Consortium over the approach to take to the colonists. While all the Consortium believed that the alien invasion was not a very good thing, most of them agreed that the best way forward was to ally with the aliens, to get the best possible deal they could from the alliance, while, maybe, secretly working against them. Bill Mulder however thought that it was possible to resist, though he was over-ruled.
However, his conscience was not such that he didn’t get involved in the Project for, apparently, the rest of his life, and his desire for the truth was not strong enough for him to tell his son about it, when he started investigating.
He was killed after Mulder got his hands on the MJ files. Cancerman said he’d protect Fox (the conversation suggests this is an ongoing agreement between the two men) but Bill Mulder decided to confess everything to his son. (Season 5’s “Travelers” complicates this, by having us believe that Mulder knew at least part of his father’s involvment as early as 1990, although both Bill and Fox talk as if Fox knows nothing in 1995, at the time of “Anasazi.” Maybe he believed his father was involved in nasty things for this one case only, and that he let Skur go because he regretted his involvement then, and would go straight ever after. Interestingly, as soon as Bill said he wanted to tell Mulder something, Mulder guessed it was about his time at the State Department.)
Anyway, Bill was killed before he could tell Fox very much at all, although Cancerman claims it was nothing to to with “us.”
Teena Mulder
Date of birth: Not known
Name: Notoriously unknown for years, then revealed, in Kitsunegari, to be “Teena” (one of the names Chris Carter suggested for her once on the radio, though at other times he came up with other names, and Rebecca Toolan, who plays the lady, says that the name “Elizabeth” was shown on the hospital bracelets in “Talitha Cumi.”)
(Note: The spelling, “Teena,” is correct, as written in the X-Files computer game, and in Mulder’s records in “Dreamland II” (though the credits list her as Tena.)
The records in Dreamland II also reveal that her maiden name is “Kuipers.” Like “Mulder,” this is a name of Dutch origin.
Address: As above, lived at Chilmark, Martha’s Vineyard. Now lives in Greenwich, Connecticut (“Paper Clip”)
Health: Suffered a stroke in “Talitha Cumi.” Healed by the morphing alien bounty hunter, at request of Cancerman. Seems to be fully recovered in “Paper Hearts.” although she tells her son that her memory is not what it used to be before the stroke (although this could be a convenient way to get out of all the questions he keeps asking her about things she’d rather not tell him about.)
The Cancerman connection: The fact that Cancerman could be Mulder’s father, or maybe Samantha’s father, has been hotly debated. “Redux II” offers some sort of answer, but we have no way of knowing yet if this is the final one, so all other possibilities are still open. Internally, the evidence we have to go on is:
“Talitha Cumi:” Cancerman to Mrs Mulder: “I thought we might at least allow ourselves to reminisce,” he says, with a puff of smoke. “We used to have so much to say to each other – so many good times at the Mulders’ summer place. Your kids, young and energetic. I remember water skiing down there with Bill. He was a good water-skier, your husband. Not as good as I was, but then that could be said about so many things, couldn’t it?” She looks odd, and firmly tells him she’s “repressed all that.”
Later in “Talitha Cumi” he tells Mulder “I’ve known your mother since before you were born, Fox,” before enquiring after her health. In “Herrenvolk” he sits by her bedside stroking her hand, and gets her healed, though he makes up some cover story about this being for the benefit of the project.
Then, in “Musings….”Cancerman is seen carrying around a picture of Mrs Mulder and little Fox, and says he’s going to visit “family” before lurking at Mulder’s office door. He also cries over a picture of Samantha and Fox, when he believes Mulder is dead (in “Redux”) and is carrying the same picture later when he is shot.
By the time of “Demons,” even Mulder seems to have considered the possibility that Cancerman is his father. He asks his mother outright, but earns only a slap rather than an answer.
“Redux II” seems to settle the question. Cancerman introduces Mulder to Samantha – or, at least, a woman whom he claims to be Samantha, and whom Mulder believes to be Samantha. Samantha calls Cancerman her father, and says that he and Mrs Mulder had protected the rest of the family from this truth. Cancerman seems to be a fond father – he strokes her hair and she doesn’t flinch away or anything – although he has lied to her, pretending to be searching hard for Fox, while all along, of course, he has known exactly where he is.
So there we are, for now….
Whatever we decide on the paternity issue, he does seem to genuinely care about Mrs Mulder, but there’s nothing so far to prove if this was romantic or if it was consumated. When he carries around a picture of Mrs Mulder and baby Fox, it could be as a reminder of the family he could have had, if his life had been different. Unless anything else is revealed, it’s up to us.
Did she know about her husband’s work? No doubt we will learn more later on this. She certainly knew about the choice her husband had to make about which child to give up (“Paper Clip”), and in “Talitha Cumi” she knew about the ice pick that was inexplicably hidden in a lamp in the summer house.
And what about the fact that X calls her “the mother,” not “Mulder’s mother?” (“Herrenvolk”) She is the mother, in a way, of all those Samantha clones. Is this all it is?
Samantha
Name: Samantha Ann Mulder (“Paper Clip.” Her middle name began with “T” in “Conduit.” Is this a mix-up at 1013? (Yes!) Or has Mulder’s memory been so scrambled that he can’t even remember his sister’s name and date of birth when opening the file on her in “Conduit.” Or did Bill Mulder lie about her details when preparing the file on her in “Paper Clip,” maybe hoping “they” would get put off the scent and not be able to find her file? No. I thought not. Worth trying, though.)
Date of birth: November 21 1965 (“Paper Clip,” superceding date given in “Conduit.”
Appearance: As a girl, long dark hair in braids. Seen in the flashback sequences in “Little Green Men” and “Paper Hearts” and as a clone in “Herrenvolk.” She is different in the first season, though – like in “Miracle Man” and the photographs Mulder has. Grown-up (if the Redux II Samantha is the real one) her hair seems inexplicably lighter, and wavy. She is the same actress as the one who played the Samantha clones in “Colony.”
Childhood: She and Fox used to play “all-day pick-up games” of baseball , ride their bikes to the beach and eat baloney sandwiches (“Home”) She once fell out of swing the summer before she was abducted and broke her collar bone (“Paper Hearts”).
Samantha’s abduction: What we know for certain is that she disappeared on the evening of November 27th 1973, when Fox was babysitting for her. She has never been found. (Interestingly, that date is the same as the date of Cassandra Spender’s abduction.)
Mulder’s memories: These vary, a result of Wong and Morgan writing “Little Green Men” without having seen “Conduit.” However, the varied memories can be seen to illustrate the fact that Mulder sometimes doubts the validity of his own memory of the event, which after all was only recalled by regression hypnosis. This is the doubt that makes the story of “Paper Hearts” possible.
In “Conduit” the memory is of lying in bed listening as Samantha called for help, but unable to see her or to move at all. He recalled a bright light and a presence in the room, and a voice in his head telling him to be afraid – that no harm would come to her. “I want to believe,” he says.
In “Little Green Men,” we see the abduction as a dream. In this memory (the same one as we see in “Paper Hearts”) the Mulders were spending the evening at their neighbours, the Galbreds. Samantha and Fox were arguing over what television channel to watch and were playing a game of Stratego. Richard Nixon was on television while Fox was waiting for “The Magician” at nine o’clock, but Samantha wanted to change channels and screamed when he refused. (“Get out of my life,” he told her, rather unfortunately). She was dressed for bed, but wasn’t actually in bed. Mulder was wearing a football shirt. When Samantha was abducted, Fox actually saw her rising into the air and floating away. He went for the gun, but couldn’t get to it. As a alien type figure stood at the door, he was paralysed and unable to do anything.
[In the novel “Goblins,” Mulder explains his differing dreams and memories of her abduction is being his mind’s attempts to suggest possible answers. The version of her abduction that he sees in his dreams are not necessarily correct.]
Mulder had no memory of any of this until undergoing regression hypnosis under Dr Heitz Werber (seen in the Pilot episode). His tapes are dated June 16, and the date is usually given as 1989.
During season five, it actually looked as if Mulder has been given false memories of aliens, and that Samantha’s abduction was firmly on the human side. By season six, though, we’re back with the aliens again. Sigh…
The Consortium involvement: From “Paper Clip,” we learnt that Bill Mulder started having doubts about his project he was involved in and wanted to expose it. It was decided that one his children would be taken as hostage to ensure his silence. He was given the choice, though he tried to make his wife choose. She says she couldn’t chose – it was his decision and she hated him for it. From the files found in “Paper Clip” it seems as if Fox was originally going to be the one who was taken. Did Bill change his mind? Did they decide to take Fox, but Bill persuaded them not to. Did Bill chose to keep Samantha but they tricked him by taking her instead, reasoning the more loved child was a better hostage?
However, in “One Son” we get a different explanation, which we are now supposed to see as the truth. According to this, the Consortium has done deals with their alien allies. In 1973, the colonists demanded that their human allies each hand over a loved one or family member, who would, presumably, be held in order to ensure obedience. On a plus side, though, the abducted people would have processes done on them which would make them immune when the date came, so would survive. When colonisation itself started, all the rest of the Syndicate would also be abducted and turned into hybrids, thus allowing them too to survive. CSM handed over his wife, Cassandra; the others handed over loved ones of their own. Bill Mulder, however, who disagreed with the alliance, refused. Thus, while all the others were taken from an air force base, Samantha was taken from home.
And where’s Samantha now? If the “One Son” explanation is correct, Samantha was taken by aliens, and has presumably been worked upon to make her into a hybrid, like Cassandra. Clones of Samantha appear in the Canadian bee farm place (“Herrenvolk”) and that the green-blooded clones in “End Game” tell Mulder she is alive – which is the reason they know enough about him to enable them to trick him into thinking one of their number is indeed his sister. Before nearly killing him, the Bounty Hunter also tells Mulder his sister is alive.
But why hasn’t she been returned? Cassandra was taken at the same time, but has lived pretty much permanently on earth, being taken away for short times every now and then. She has also been taken by aliens, apparently, but worked upon by human doctors. Samantha, though, is apparently still out there. Why?
Whatever, we’re supposed to believe that Samantha will return, all safely made into a hybrid, just as the colonisation begins.
“Samantha’s” memories: In Redux II, “Samantha” is returned. Mulder believes it is the real Samantha, though Cassandra Spender, in “Two Fathers,” claims that it is not – that the real Samantha is still out there with the aliens. However, we’ve had so many “facts” overturned in the past that I don’t want to delete this section, just in case season seven tries to tell us that the Redux Samantha was the right one after all.
“Samantha” told Mulder that she was raised by foster parents who told she was an orphan. Then one night they took her to a hotel room, told her she was going to see her real father, who was Cancerman. As for the night of her abduction, she said she remembered Mulder, and then “something, then men.” Mulder said, “I can help you remember. You were abducted.” She began to cry and said she didn’t want to remember. Mulder held her hand, but she grew almost hysterical, pulling away.
While she seemed to have tried half-heartedly to find Mulder – Cancerman (lying to her, of course) came to her recently and said that he had found Fox, at last, and she said she wished she knew how to contact him – she was certainly not driven in the same way as he is. She showed no desire to see her mother, and was surprised to find out that she was still alive.
She seemed to be happy in her new life, with children, and with a father who seems to be a find father – he stroked her hair as they drive away.
With Cancerman (apparently) dead for much of season five, Mulder believed that he had no way of finding Samantha again, and that he had been given her only to lose her again.
The effect on the family: In the Pilot episode, Mulder says it tore the family apart and no-one would speak of what happened. As soon as he could he got out and went to England.
In “Colony” and “End Game” we begin to see how the family was torn apart. Mulder’s parents are separated, and Bill Mulder is cold towards his son, refusing to hug him. Mrs Mulder talks about suffering years of sleepless nights. The very hostile attitude Bill Mulder takes when the pseudo-Samnantha is lost over the bridge certainly suggests that he has blamed his son for losing Samantha the first time. Maybe as Mulder had access to a gun, he thinks he should have been able to save her.
The “Anasazi” trilogy adds to the guilt and reproach within the family. Mrs Mulder blames her husband for having got into a position in which he has to choose which child to keep. “I hated him,” she says. “I hate him still.”
The effect on Mulder: Despite what he says in “Oubliette” (that not everything in his life can be traced back to this one childhood incident). This subject is central to Mulder’s character, so is really beyond the confines of what this web page is about. It can’t really be discussed without launching into a long and subjective character study. Episodes to look at in particular are “Conduit,” “Little Green Men,” “Colony” and “End Game,”
the “Anasazi” trilogy, “Oubliette,” “Paper Hearts,” “Demons” and “Redux II.”
[The novel, “Ruins,” has a bit about how the young Fox reacted after his sister’s abduction. Mulder remembers longing for Samantha to return, and reproaching himself for not doing more to stop her being taken. He remembers cycling round the neighbouring houses ringing doorbells and asking everyone if they’d seen Samantha, and spending ages making “Missing” posters, each one hand-written with a black marker. His father had remained stony and stoical, and his mother had collapsed into her grief. ]