Blondie's Ratcave Interview with Frank Spotnitz
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Blondie's Ratcave Interview with Frank Spotnitz |
| Interviewer: | Deslea |
| Interviewee: | Frank Spotnitz |
| Date(s): | January 2002 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | The X-Files |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Blondie's Ratcave Interview with Frank Spotnitz was conducted by Deslea.
It was posted to Blondie's Ratcave, a X Files Marita Covarrubias/Alex Krycek fan website, in January 2002. Frank Spotnitz also had other senior roles on The X-Files, but was specifically chosen for this purpose because he wrote or co-wrote most of these two characters' history.
The interview is now offline. Excerpts are posted here on Fanlore with Deslea's permission.
Excerpts
DESLEA: Before we begin, do you have any questions for me about what we'll be talking about or where I'm coming from in the interview?
FRANK: I don't think so. It's about Krycek and Covarrubias pretty much, right?
DESLEA: Pretty much, and the mytharc in a broader sense, yeah.
FRANK: Okay.
DESLEA: Okay. Well, this might come under the headings of things you don't remember, but I'd like to start by asking a little about some information we have on some plans in Season Seven.
FRANK: Okay.
DESLEA: An episode that may have given some insight into Alex and Marita's background. We're told that episode wasn't produced because Nick Lea was unavailable.
FRANK: Right.
DESLEA: Firstly, can you confirm that report?
FRANK: Yeah. We talked for a long time about doing a sort of a prequel - a Krycek prequel that would have shown where he came from, how he came to be a bad guy, how he hooked up with the Cigarette Smoking Man, all the things about Krycek that led up to his introduction in Sleepless in Season Two. And one thing that we imagined about Krycek and Covarrubias was, you know, we learned very late in the game after having met Covarrubias that she was in fact intertwined with the Syndicate as well. And so it just made sense to us that these two young attractive people, reporting to the same group of men, might have had a relationship of some kind - and we never really got a chance to show what the backstory was and how they came to where we found them in the present day. So we had hoped to do that episode, but then Nick went off and got this movie, Vertical Limit, and actually we had to film a scene which was, you know, a body double to suggest Krycek's presence at the beginning of that season, for uh...
DESLEA: That's right, for Sixth Extinction II.
FRANK: Yeah, exactly, where Kritschgau gets murdered.
DESLEA: That's right. Some of the information we have from that is that it was suggested that Krycek and Covarrubias may have met in the Gulf, the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War. Is that one of the things that was mooted?
FRANK: I don't remember...you know, I know we found out she spoke many languages, you know, in the episode where she shows up as part of the UN delegation - but I don't recall that, I don't know where that came from.
DESLEA: No, that's fine, that's fair enough. We also had hints of this relationship in Zero Sum, when Marita was with a man who was in shadow, or was in soft focus. So was that idea of the backstory in your mind even then, the season before Patient X?
FRANK: Well, the idea that she was betraying Mulder was in our mind but I don't think that was meant to be an allusion to the relationship with Krycek at that point.
DESLEA: Okay. Moving a little bit further on, you spoke in the press in 2000 of some significant plans for Alex and Marita in Season Eight.
FRANK: Yes.
DESLEA: That didn't happen due to factors beyond your control -
FRANK: Right.
DESLEA: Especially Laurie Holden's movie. But I wonder if you'd mind telling me more about what those plans were?
FRANK: Well, we really saw a next generation of conspirators that...well, you know Krycek has really been the bastard son, ah, figuratively, so to speak, of the Cigarette Smoking Man. The Cigarette Smoking Man really had three quote-unquote sons...he had his own, real son Jeffrey Spender, he had Fox Mulder, and he had Krycek. And you know, I think Krycek really wanted the Cigarette Smoking Man's respect and he couldn't get it. The Cigarette Smoking Man tried to kill him. And when [Krycek] finally pushed him down the stairs in the wheelchair, we thought it was finally Krycek overthrowing his quote-unquote father. Not biologically, but sort of his spiritual father, his evil father...and that perhaps he and Covarrubias then might take up the reins of whatever remained involving our involvement with the aliens. You know, there's still pieces of this conspiracy out there. We saw in the movie that Strughold is in Tunisia, and there were bee fields out there too. So even though all the Syndicate members in the United States were killed, there were still fragments we imagined Krycek and Covarrubias might start to pick up. But as you said, factors beyond our control served to change the course of the story.
DESLEA: Yes - that was quite difficult for you in the end, because you had a lot of challenges at that point anyway.
FRANK: We sure did! In the end though, I think it probably worked out for the best because when we knew that David was definitively leaving the series, it really felt like it was time for Krycek to definitively leave the series because those two had been pitted against each other. They really had been competing sons, to keep that metaphor going, and Krycek had killed Mulder's father and it felt like there was kind of a marriage of sorts between those two characters, and the right time to exit Krycek was when Mulder exited.
DESLEA: No, that makes sense, a kind of twin closure.
FRANK: Yeah.
DESLEA: So do you see...I mean clearly Krycek has been driven by survival, and also by this quest for CSM's approval early on...do you see ideology in the mix for him as well? I mean we saw hints of that in Two Fathers in the things he was saying to Jeffrey Spender...
FRANK: Yes.
DESLEA: Yeah - do you think that's fair comment?
FRANK: Yeah. I mean I think - I think Krycek didn't want to be a bad guy. It just was what happened to him. That was the backstory that we were working out in this episode that we never got to film - about how bad luck turned him, and how he could have been Mulder and he really wanted to be Mulder, and just circumstances put him on the wrong side of the war. And that's what we were flirting with in The Red And The Black, where he's kind of trying to help Mulder - and it's one of the few, probably the only thing Krycek has ever done that was not purely self-interested, because otherwise he's a character of pure self-interest and survival - and that's actually what I loved about him, is his unsinkability and his consistency. (Both laugh) But it is a shame that we never got to do that story because I often think that, you know, some people, their characters are kind of in the middle and they could tilt towards evil or good, and fate or luck or destiny slides the scale in one direction at a certain point in their life and they can never get it back. And that's what I imagined happened to Krycek.
DESLEA: I think that makes a lot of sense. Look, just coming back to that episode-that-wasn't for a moment, it does suggest - I mean the information we have, which obviously has some that might be extrapolated - but certainly there is a suggestion of some history between these two. Do you see Alex and Marita as a love story, a tragedy, a meeting of people with similar goals, or something different again?
FRANK: I really see them as - I do see them as a love story of sorts, but kind of a twisted love story. Because I think they're both tortured characters in a way. I mean Marita certainly looked tortured in Two Fathers/One Son. And we imagine that if they'd gone forward it would have been like Spy vs Spy or - what was that movie with Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner? Where they're both...
DESLEA: Oh - War of the Roses?
FRANK: No, that one was Michael Douglas - what is it? Yeah, Prizzi's Honour. They're both hit men, but they're in love with each other. We kind of imagined that it would be a partnership, but between two people who both know that neither one can be trusted. And that's a really, really interesting relationship I think because there could be so many opportunities for allegiance and betrayal - and depending on the circumstances, they might stick together and be inseparable, and then in other circumstances they might stab each other in the back. And that's perfect X Files material! It would have been a lot of fun to do.
DESLEA: I mean just listening to you talk I get the feeling that you would have liked to have explored these characters and the inner workings of the conspiracy much more than you were able.
FRANK: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, there was always the character of the Deep Throat and you know, X. And with Marita, you know, we gave her a name, we gave her a job. We really wanted to do something different with her than we'd done with Deep Throat and X. And you know, it was really kind of an evolution of that type of character on the show because Deep Throat was just sort of this paternal guy you didn't know much about and then he died. And then X was much more hard-edged a character of action. And then finally Marita had a name and a job and could be seductive and could betray you. I mean, she was, to my mind, the most complex variation on that type of character. And it would have been fun to keep going and see what we could have done with her and Krycek.
DESLEA: That makes a lot of sense. Do you think the fan base really embraced what you were trying to do with the conspiracy arc? I mean do you think they saw the murkier characters the way you do as the writer? Or did they sometimes kind of miss the point?
FRANK: Well, you know, people tend to be slow to embrace change and people were very upset when Deep Throat died. They hated X for a long time - I remember that because when I came on the show people were - all the emails I'd ever read and all the chatroom talk would be about how much they hated X. And then when X died they were so upset when he died and they loved him. You know, to this day I hear people talking about how much they loved that character. And Marita too, I think she took a lot of abuse in the online community for years.
DESLEA: Very much so.
FRANK: Yeah, before people started to warm up to her. And I think it was when we started to see more of who she was and what she could do, particularly in, I guess it was Tunguska/Terma when she was with the UN delegation - I think I'm remembering that correctly.
DESLEA: The UN delegation to Russia? That was Patient X.
FRANK: Was it Patient X? Wait, yes, you're right, you're right because that was the first of the group abductions. You're absolutely right. So I think people really warmed up to her towards the end...
DESLEA: ...but it was a long haul getting there, wasn't it?
FRANK: It was, it was. But it always is - it always was. Because people just really didn't like change. But I think she was successful in my mind, and she was always interesting in those shows.
DESLEA: Is that frustrating for you, as a writer? Or is it just a reality of how people use television as a medium and you just sort of live with it and work around it?
FRANK: Yeah, it's just kind of the way it is. It's not really frustrating - I can't complain about it because it's been such a great experience. I had this insight very early on when I was on the show in the second season, I went to a convention in San Diego, and I spoke - it was the first time I'd spoken. And I got the distinct feeling from the audience that the show did not belong to me, it belonged to them. And the characters belonged to them. And I was kind of in the way. (Both laugh). The fans didn't - they don't perceive the writers, some of the fans I should say, they don't perceive the writers as being entirely trustworthy. Sort of like, they know the characters, they know the show, it's deep in their hearts and please don't screw it up. (Laughs) That's kind of the attitude we're getting. It's a compliment, in a way - it shows how deeply you've hooked them into the world you're creating.
DESLEA: That's true, that's true. And I mean we've seen so much of that in the last two seasons, as well, which is, I'm sure it's been very hard on yourself and your team and also the actors.
FRANK: Yeah. It is hard, because you're just trying to do a great show. And you know, nobody loves these characters - all of them - nobody loves them more than we do. Nobody's spent more time thinking about them and living with them than we have. And people, I think some people just lack understanding, and people who claim to love the show have really hurt it, or attacked the people who made the show, which is kind of silly. You know, when David Duchovny left the show, he didn't wish ill on it.
DESLEA: Of course he didn't.
FRANK: He loves Robert Patrick, he was all behind it. So it was kind of a false way of looking at the show to attack it because of the changes of the last two years.
DESLEA: Look, I agree entirely. I loved the old-look show, and I love the new-look show.
FRANK: Thanks!
DESLEA: I think Robert and Annabeth have done a brilliant job, and you know, with a lot of challenges ahead of you, I think you guys have done the best you can and I've found it very frustrating within the fandom watching what's going on.
FRANK: Well, I think - I really believe this is all temporary and heat of the moment. And when people look at these episodes in syndication years from now - which I hope they will - you know, people will, if they even hear the way it was perceived at the time, they'll sort of scratch their heads and wonder why. Because I think you're right, I think Robert and Annabeth have done such great work and there have been a lot of really stand-out episodes from last season and this season that I think will hold up really well over time.
DESLEA: I agree. Now look, you were born overseas, you've worked in Europe, you've got a journalistic background - you're used to looking at the big picture, analysing a situation in a certain way. Does that, or has that influenced your reading and writing of the show? I mean especially the mytharc...
FRANK: Oh, I think so. I think one of the things - I mean, being a journalist you're exposed to all walks of life. I've covered everything from house fires and mob trials to state house, state government, stuff like that. So - and then living in France and travelling, I've been to Australia and a lot of countries. Just - it opens your eyes up to the diversity of experience and different ways of looking at things. And I think especially with the mythology shows...you know, we never came in with an axe to grind. We never were trying to put a political message down anybody's throat. We just wanted to show the complexity of human behaviour, of motivation, you know - how people will betray each other and why. And the more life experience you have to draw on, the better you can paint those kinds of pictures. So, I guess also being in Hollywood (laughs) - that's definitely helpful because there's a lot of that kind of machination, a lot of lack of loyalty and things like that. I'm sure that's true in many walks of life and in many industries and professions, but you certainly see that here because the money is big and the attention is big and the egos are big. So you see a lot of that here.
DESLEA: That makes a lot of sense. And of course that's something that's only been heavily in your life in more recent years since the move from Vancouver, too.
FRANK: Yeah. (Reconsiders). Well, even in Vancouver, too, we were still living down here, so we would travel up there to prep the show, but we still had plenty of exposure to the Hollywood culture.
DESLEA: Yes. Coming back to what you were saying about that whole multiplicity of motivations and all of that - I mean, for myself as a viewer, and I should say there's some projection of myself and my own agenda here -
FRANK: (laughs) Okay.
DESLEA: I have an ethics background, and I saw the mytharc as kind of a commentary on social responsibility in an era that really poses a lot of new moral challenges.
FRANK: Yes.
DESLEA: I mean the Consortium at least in its purest form actually represented the pursuit of the greatest good for the greatest number. It was always interesting to me that even when they were weak or treacherous, they seemed to have a more articulate moral framework for their activities than the good guys had.
FRANK: Oh, I think you're absolutely right. That was really interesting to us, too - you know, what if Mulder's wrong? What if he's gumming up the works? What if these guys if left unimpeded would have saved all of us? You know, that's really been one of the joys of working on the show. You just can keep turning the coin over and over and over again, and looking at it in a new way. I think you - I think it's fair to go back and look at these shows and read idealogical agendas and truths into what we did, but it was never in our minds at the time because we were just trying to make them as interesting as we could and be true to the characters' behaviour as we understand it. So I think if you do that as a writer or a film-maker, if you don't pursue an agenda but you just try and really be accurate to your understanding of how people behave and how the world is, you end up coming up with a much more interesting picture than if you narrowly define what you want to do beforehand.
DESLEA: No, that makes a lot of sense. I mean this is one of those literary hypotheticals that doesn't necessarily translate to what we believe in real life or about real life, but I mean if we see it as a tug of war between Mulder's idealism and the Consortium's pragmatism, I mean, you know, who has the higher path? It can go either way depending on how you look at it.
FRANK: Yeah. I think you're absolutely right. That's what's really interesting, you know. That issue echoes through much of the series if you look at, you know, like the real-life United States Paper Clip program using Nazi scientists in our rocket development program after World War II. That's the exact same issue once again. Is it - does the outcome justify the means?
DESLEA: That's right. What about themes of age and gender? You've referred to those yourself in other interviews, again, about the plans for Season Eight. Alex and Marita were very much the young inheritors of the work, and to a lesser extent I think that was true of Diana and Jeffrey as well. Would you have liked to have done more with that?
FRANK: With Diana and Jeffrey, I think those characters kind of ran their course for me personally. There was really nowhere for Jeffrey to go, at least in the world of the X Files. He kind of reached a dead end, because he always reminded me of The Lion In Winter and the three sons of Peter O'Toole's character in that movie. There was a path that Jeffrey needed to take in order to please his father and he wouldn't take it. And once that happened he either had to become a second Mulder or he had to die. There was just no place else to go on the show. And there was really no point in having a second Mulder. So I felt like that was the right thing to do at that point in the series. And Diana was a traitor, you know - Scully was right - and at the last moment we found some goodness in her. And that sort of was inspired for me, not to sound overly literary, by Joseph Conrad. Because in so many of his books, most famously Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, all those other things - characters who are evil, at the very last moment as they're facing death or destruction, they end up doing something noble. Well, Lord Jim isn't evil, but thinking of Colonel Kurtz and Heart of Darkness that he's done all these terrible, terrible things - and yet at the very end he's able to recognise the horror of what he's done. He's still got some moral spark left in him. And that was kind of the idea of Diana Fowley - that, you know, before she went, there was this glimmer of goodness left in her, which was interesting.
DESLEA: Yeah. I thought that meant a lot, it added a lot to what had gone before, and made it a little more three-dimensional I think.
FRANK: Yes, you're right, that's it exactly, and that's the thing, too. It's like if you can find a plausible contradiction in a character, you're absolutely right, it makes them seem more three-dimensional and life-like.
DESLEA: Thinking of those two and also Alex and Marita again, and the Well-Manicured Man and so on - we've seen incredible loss in all these characters. Do you see those losses as sacrifices for the work, or as retribution for wrong-doing? Is it martyrdom, or punishment? I guess that comes back to what we were saying about who's got the higher path to start with.
FRANK: Well, it's hard for me to make a sweeping statement because I think each of their deaths was for every different reasons. But I think all three of the cases you cited - what I could say is there was a degree of heroism in all of them. I mean, thinking about it - and I wasn't really conscious of it at the time - but Jeffrey Spender was standing up to his evil father. Seeing what his father was, he wouldn't follow his line. And that cost him his life. And Diana Fowley was helping Mulder, which cost her her life, and the same could be said of the Well-Manicured Man. And so they were heroic deaths, all three of them, in a way. They were all people who had made bargains in a sense - well, probably not Jeffrey Spender - although he'd been helped without his knowledge by his father. But certainly Diana Fowley and the Well-Manicured Man had made deals with the devil - and having done that, they now had to pay for their nobility with their lives.
DESLEA: Look, you're coming to the end of an era in your own life, not only professionally but creatively. What are you taking away from this? What, to you, sums up what you did here?
FRANK: Well, you know, it's been an amazing learning experience, because I've done so much storytelling and produced so many hours of television. And I feel enormously lucky, because normally you dream of being able to work when you become a writer. To actually be able to work and produce your material is a victory in itself. But on a show like this where each episode was so different, and presented so many different storytelling challenges that...I don't think I'll ever finish realising how much I've learned doing this for eight years. And it’s given me, you know, pretty strong skills that I hope I can continue to polish and refine and to do better work in the future with - whatever that's going to be. The problem is that we're just all so spoiled because shows like The X Files don't come along very often and I don't expect to find another one. So it's, you know, you really can't top an experience like this. I just hope to go on and do something equally satisfying in a different way.
DESLEA: What are your plans for the future? Or should we just wait and see?
FRANK: Yeah, I don't really know. I'm going to wait and see what comes my way, I mean I may work on another television series, develop a television series, write movies, do nothing for a while (laughs).
DESLEA: (Laughs) That would probably be very nice!
FRANK: Yeah! But I hope and expect to be doing the next X Files movie in 2003, and that makes the sting of calling an end to this somewhat easier to take. Because I know we'll be seeing at least some of the people we've worked with again.
DESLEA: I won't ask you to give me any spoilers on the movie - it would be very very mean!
FRANK: (Laughs) I don't even know.
DESLEA:... Now, we're getting towards the end of our time commitment, so we'll look towards wrapping up. Just before we do, I do have one more thing to ask. It's very much stretching the friendship but I'll ask anyway, because, well, I'm like that. (Both laugh) I know that there is missing footage of our duo - there's outtakes from Patient X and there's dailies and a cut portion of a scene in Requiem and those sorts of odds and ends. Is there any chance at all of getting hold of some of that footage?
FRANK: You know, I don't know how to, insane as it may seem. Every show has to be a uniform length, every episode we've ever done has scenes cut out of it. And I believe those cuts reside on computer lists, computer decision lists somewhere here on the lot, but I don't know where and I don't know how to restore them. Usually those scenes never got colour-corrected, there was never any musical score for them. If there were scratches on the film then they never got fixed because they never made it to the final cut. So I don't know how to pull those things up and what's going to happen to them. Occasionally we've done specials over the years and we've shown deleted scenes and we’ve been able to dig those things up and make them presentable for broadcast, but I don't really know how to answer that because it's sort of a technical question. It's the post-production people who have the keys to the vault and know how to access those things and reissue them.
DESLEA: No, that's fair enough. Never hurts to ask!
FRANK: Yeah!
DESLEA: All right, look, I'd better let you go. I want to thank you again for speaking with me.
FRANK: It’s been a pleasure. I don't often get to talk about this sort of thing - it's a big part of my imagination but no-one ever asks about it, so it's been fun for me.
DESLEA: Well, that's great. I mean it's been just wonderful for me too. I think it's every Phile's dream to have a chance to pick your brain, so thank you so much.
FRANK: Thank you, and thanks for being such a supporter of the show.
Linkages to the Krycek Backstory Episode
The Frank Spotnitz interview alluded to two Krycek/Marita storyline forks that were not taken in 1999, a backstory episode and an alternate direction for Season 7. Separately from this interview, Deslea was given a synopsis of the backstory episode by a trusted source, which was partly-confirmed by the Spotnitz interview. She said at the time:
In 1999, there was a plan afoot for an episode of The X Files concerning the back story for Alex Krycek and, to a lesser extent, Marita Covarrubias. This did not eventuate, because Nicholas Lea was in New Zealand filming Vertical Limit. As far as we know, the final script was never written. However, we have been able to obtain a story outline through one of our most reliable sources...It is important to note that this outline was never filmed or aired, and was contradicted by the subsequent episode Requiem (specifically when and how Marita was released from Fort Marlene, and the fact of Alex's imprisonment in Tunisia). Therefore, it is not canonical. However, it could be considered deuterocanonical, for want of a better term, and may serve as inspiration and information for some fanfic writers.
The synopsis, as quoted by the source at the time, reads as follows:
"Mulder and Scully are not expected to have much screen time. In fact, Duchovny only appears in clips from the season 2 episodes "Sleepless" and "Ascension". Anderson appears in a short clip from "Ascension" and also provides a new scene for that period of time, but she is reportedly laying unconscious during her abduction."
"(The whole reason CC decided to do a Krycekcentric episode was because DD and GA were going to be unavailable for the first week of filming in season 7. So this bit about their nonparticipation does track with reality. The entire filming schedule had to be shifted back a week when Nick also turned up unable to participate)."
"The episode reveals more about Krycek. His parents were cold war immigrants as revealed in the season 4 episode "Tunguska" which is how Krycek learned to speak Russian."
"Apparently, in the episode, it is revealed that Krycek's father was a Russian soldier who was executed for espionage (sounds similar to CSM's past) alongside Krycek's mother. Krycek was only 10 years old when this happened. He spent the next 10 years with the commander of the Tunguska gulag who is apparently a powerful figure in the Russian army. This man was reportedly a friend of Krycek's father, but also authorized his execution. He regretted having to make that choice which is why he is repaying by caring for Krycek."
"The episode opens with the executions of Krycek's parents in 1979. In 1999, Krycek assembles a meeting in St. Petersburg. Attendants include Vasilly Peskow, the gulag commander, and other people who are hard to make out. Krycek says he knows he's betrayed them in the past, but he has come to tell them that he knows they are in dangerous times and that they need him. He says he will tell them everything about his past so they will know where is loyalties lie."
"In 1991, Krycek is called to a secret meeting in St. Petersburg. The gulag commander (whose name is not given) is among the people at the meeting, including Vassily Peskow (who also appears briefly in the finale). Krycek is told about his father and is asked to carry out a mission. He is sent undercover as an American soldier stationed in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War. At this point, Krycek apparently knows nothing about the black oil virus (Purity) or the Project. His job in Saudi Arabia is to learn more about America's biochemical weapons project. He is told that there is a contact that he is to speak with and that this person will contact him."
"I am not sure how this part of the episode plays out. Later in the episode we see that the person Krycek was meeting with is Marita Covarubias who is working in the United Nations. She arrives in Saudi Arabia and brings him back to the US. Krycek realizes that she is collecting information for the Russians. He is taken back to the United States where somehow he learns more about The Project (although not much is given and there is no mention of aliens)."
"Krycek is led to an office in New York where he meets with a few members of the Syndicate. The Well Manicured Man is there with Marita. They reveal that Marita is actually a double agent who is feeding false information to the Russians and is giving the Syndicate information on them. Marita sees potential in Krycek (although she is also attracted to him) and proposes that they keep him rather than kill him. Apparently WMM agrees because the episode flashes forward 3 years later to 1994 when he is assigned as Mulder's partner. There is a scene with him in a meeting with the WMM who explains that he will go undercover as an FBI agent to keep tabs on Mulder's work."
"After Scully is abducted, we see Krycek in a room overseeing tests. Flash forward several years (probably 1995 or 1996) and we see Krycek meeting with a Russian soldier (most likely the one scene in the Tunguska gulag in the episodes entitled "Terma" and "The Red and the Black".) Krycek is apparently in touch with the Russians again. Krycek says he has a digital tape that contains all of the information on the Project. By this point, Krycek is willing to return to the Russians because he now is aware of the impending invasion and wants to help the Russians resist."
"The episode is not expected to mention anything about Krycek's stint with the militia (Tunguska/Terma). We are given a little more information about his relationship with Marita and we are expected to see them kiss at least once. They do have a discussion about the project (I wasn't able to determine the year this takes place). He says he believes the syndicate may have been deceived. She merely says that she knows he is in touch with the Russians and that she isn't everything he thinks she is (she is implying that she agrees with him)."
"We also see that Krycek still has the alien relic, known as a magic square, from the episode "Biogenesis". He knows it is valuable beyond simply proving the existence of alien life. He knows that it has power that can be given to certain people. It may be the only thing that can stop the invasion. (Krycek's plan isn't made clear)."
"In the final scene we see Krycek sitting in the dark meeting room in St. Petersburg. Marita is at the meeting, along with the gulag commander, Vassily Peskow, and a few other people. At this point we realize Krycek brought Marita to St. Petersburg after the episode "One Son". She has been working with the Russian/Rebel resistance. They say that they have already given the rebels what they want- the vaccine. Marita says that the rebels have revealed that the colonists are preparing to come to Earth. (This is what happens in the finale.)"
"The word REBELS isn't supposed to actually be spoken. The Russians only make references to them. We also shouldn't expect to learn anything new about the murder of Mulder's father or Scully's sister. Either it isn't addressed, or we are shown scenes from those episodes but nothing new is given. I don't know anything else about the plot of this episode. From what I've learned, William B. Davis (CSM) is not in the episode at all. Neither is Steven Williams (Mr. X), Jerry Hardin (Deep Throat), Peter Donat (Bill Mulder), or Mitch Pilleggi (Skinner) even though they were all major players during the time Krycek is shown working in the US."
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