| "The Blessing Way" | |
|---|---|
| Series The X-Files Season 3, Episode 1 | |
| |
| Air date | September 22nd, 1995 |
| Writers | Chris Carter |
| Director | R.W. Goodwin |
| Producers | Rob Bowman; Chris Carter; Charles Grant Craig; Joseph Patrick Finn; R.W. Goodwin; Howard Gordon; Kim Manners; Paul Rabwin |
| Starring | David Duchovny; Gillian Anderson |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "Anasazi" |
Next "Paper Clip" |
"The Blessing Way" is the first episode of season three of the science fiction mystery series The X-Files and the fiftieth episode of the series overall. It was directed by R.W. Goodwin with a script written by Chris Carter. It first aired on the FOX Network on Friday, September 22nd, 1995 at 9:00 pm.
Plot[]
Fox Mulder is gravely injured in the boxcar explosion. Albert Hosteen and his son recover him from beneath some rocks and take him back to the reservation. They place him inside of a Hogan and perform a healing ritual for four days. During his unconsciousness, Mulder experiences visions of his father and Deep Throat.
Back in Washington, D.C., the higher-ups of the F.B.I. lay the blame for missing DAT tape at the feet of Dana Scully. They have Skinner ask for her gun and badge. When Scully tries to enter the F.B.I. headquarters through the civilian entrance, she sets off the metal detector. She later determines that there is an implant inside of her neck, though she has no idea how it got there.
At the behest of her sister, Melissa Scully, Dana goes to see Doctor Mark Pomerantz - a specialist in regressive hypno-therapy, but the process fails and Scully is no closer to learning the truth about the implant.
She later attends the funeral of William Mulder. Nobody knows where Fox is. She encounters the mysterious "Well-Manicured Man", who offers a cryptic warning that someone she trusts will try to kill her.
She speaks with Melissa who tells her that she is coming over. Dana tries to warn her away from coming to her home. When Melissa arrives, Alex Krycek and Luis Cardinal - mistaking her for Dana, shoot Melissa Scully in the head.
Later, Scully goes to Fox Mulder's apartment. Walter Skinner is there, and Dana now suspects that he might be the assassin that the Well-Manicured Man warned her about. They both draw their gun upon another. Suddenly, the front door opens...
Cast[]
Starring[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| David Duchovny | Fox Mulder |
| Gillian Anderson | Dana Scully |
| Mitch Pileggi | Walter Skinner |
Guest Starring[]
Co-Starring[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Alf Humphreys | Mark Pomerantz |
| Dakota House | Eric Hosteen |
| Michael David Simms | Senior FBI agent |
| Rebecca Toolan | Teena Mulder |
| Don S. Williams | Elder #1 |
| Forbes Angus | M.D. |
| Mitchell Davies | Camouflage man |
| Benita Ha | Tour guide |
| Ian Victor | Minister |
| Ernie Foort | Security guard |
| Lenno Britos | Luis Cardinal |
Notes & Trivia[]
- The X-Files was created by writer and executive producer Chris Carter. The original run of the series aired on the FOX Network from 1993 to 2002, spanning a total of 202 episodes. The show was revived in 2008 for two more seasons with a total episode count of 218 episodes.
- "The Blessing Way" and "TXF: The Blessing Way" both redirect to this page. These links serve as shortcuts for the benefit of users who wish to find this page by using keywords in the search engine.
- This episode is rated TV-14.
- This episode is includes on the The X-Files: The Complete Collection DVD collection, The X-Files: The Complete Collector's Edition collection, and The X-Files: The Complete Third Season collection.
- This episode is production code number 3x01.
- This episode had a Nielsen rating of 12.3 and a viewership of 19.94 million people upon its initial broadcast, which is up by an astronomical 10.34 million from the season two finale.
- Actor Mitch Pileggi is given an "Also Starring" credit in the series beginning with this episode.
- This episode gives a dedication to costume designer Larry Wells, who passed away in 1995 at the age of 49.
- This is the second chapter of a three-part storyline that began at the end of season two.
- This is the fourth episode of The X-Files with R.W. Goodwin as director. He previously directed "Anasazi". His next episode is the season finale, "Talitha Cumi".
- This is the seventeenth episode of The X-Files with Chris Carter as writer. He previously wrote "Anasazi". His next episode if "Paper Clip".
- Featured locations seen in this episode are the F.B.I. headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the Two Grey Hills reservation in New Mexico.
- This is one of the rare instances when one of the Lone Gunmen is seen without the other two.
- This is the second appearance of Albert Hosteen. He appeared last in "Anasazi". He appears next in "Paper Clip".
- This is the second and final appearance of Eric Hosteen. He appeared last in "Anasazi".
- This is the first appearance of the so-called "Well-Manicured Man", who is a member of the Syndicate, who serves as a supplier of information to Dana Scully.
- Deep Throat and William Mulder both appear in Fox Mulder's vision quest.
- Dana Scully is instructed to turn in both her gun and her badge, but she only turns in her gun.
- This is the first appearance of Luis Cardinal, who is the assassin partnered up with Alex Krycek. He appears next in "Paper Clip". He will not be identified by name until "Apocrypha".
- Actors Nicholas Lea and Melinda McGraw were dating each other at the time of this episode's production. Ironically, Lea's character is ultimately responsible for the death of McGraw's character.
- Actor Forbes Angus also played a government scientist in the season two episode, "Soft Light".
Allusions[]
- The title of this episode is taken from The Blessing Way, which is a crime novel by author Tony Hillerman, published by Harper & Row in 1970. It is the first book in the "Navajo Tribal Police" series.
- The Well-Manicured Man is the counterpart to Deep Throat, who was Fox Mulder's mysterious information in season one.
- Deep Throat was assassinated in the season one finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask".
- William Mulder was assassinated, seemingly by Alex Krycek in the season two finale, "Anasazi". Krycek would later claim in "Piper Maru" however that he did not kill William Mulder. It is important to note Krycek is not physically seen killing Bill Mulder on-screen.
- Deep Throat's quote, "Awaken the sleep of reason and fight the monsters within and without", is a reference to "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters", which was the name of a series of paintings by Francisco Goya.
Bloopers[]
- The events of this episode take place immediately following the events of "Anasazi". In that episode, Dana Scully suffered a head injury when an assassin's bullet (intended for Mulder) creased her skull. In this episode, there is no evidence of the injury.
Quotes[]
- Albert Hosteen: There's an ancient Indian saying that something lives only as long as the last person who remembers it. My people have come to trust memory over history. Memory, like fire, is radiant and immutable while history only serves those who seek to control it. Those who would douse the flame of memory in order to put out the dangerous fire of truth. Beware these men, for they are dangerous themselves... and unwise. Their false history is written in the blood of those who might remember it and of those who seek the truth.
....
- Fox Mulder: You were here today looking for a truth that was taken from you. A truth which was never to be spoken, but which now bind us together in dangerous purpose. I've returned from the dead to continue with you, but I fear that this danger is now close at hand and I may be too late.
....
- Albert Hosteen: You must be careful now to end the ceremony properly. If you leave, you must not do any work, change clothes or bathe for four days.
- Fox Mulder: This is really gonna cut into my social life.
....
- William Mulder: Hello, son. I did not dare hope to see you so soon nor ever again hope to broker fate with a life to which I gave life. The lies I told you were a pox and poison to my soul and now you are here because of them. Lies I thought might bury forever a truth I could not live with. I stand here, ashamed of the choices I made so long ago, when you were just a boy. You are the memory, Fox. It lives in you. If you were to die now, the truth will die. And only the lies survive us.
- Fox Mulder: My sister? Is she here?
- William Mulder: No. The thing that would destroy me, the truth I felt you must never learn is the truth you will find if you are to go forward.
....
- Albert Hosteen: When the FBI man Mulder was cured by the holy people, we were reminded of the story of the gila monster, who symbolises the healing powers of the medicine man, In this myth the gila monster restores a man by taking all his parts and putting them back together. His blood is gathered by the ants, his eyes and ears by the sun, his mind by talking god and pollen boy. Then lightning and thunder bring the man back to life.
....
- Deep Throat: I was first struck by the absence of time, having depended on it so completely as a measure of myself and my life. Moving backwards into the perpetual night that consumes purpose and deed, all passion and will. I come to you, old friend, with the dull clarity of the dead not to beckon you but to feel the fire and intensity that still live in you... and the heavy weight of your burdens which I had once borne. There is truth here, old friend, if that's all you seek but there's no justice or judgment without which truth is a vast, dead hollow. Go back. Do not look into the abyss or let the abyss look into you. Awaken the sleep of reason and fight the monsters within and without.
See also[]
Media
The World of the X-Files
The X-Files miscellaneous
External Links[]
Keywords[]
Aliens | Assault rifle | Birds | Cemetery | Federal Bureau of Investigation | Funeral | Government conspiracies | Gunshot victims | Hallucination | Handgun | Helicopter | J. Edgar Hoover Building | Massachusetts | New Mexico | New York | New York City | Shaman | Shot in the head | Skeleton | Smoking | Syndicate | Washington, D.C.