Have Yourself a VeryX-FilesNew Year, With a Side of Zombies

The X - Filesgenerally did n’t give much shine to holidays — apart from a few renowned exceptions , like the time of year - six classic “ How the ghost Stole Christmas . ” But the hover arrival of the year 2000 was too blue fora show that jollify in cabal theoriesto ignore , and thus the ably style “ Millennium ” popped up in belated 1999 , early on in the show ’s 7th time of year .

As devotees of late-’90s boob tube will recall , Millennium was also the name of another Chris Carter - make Fox serial publication ; despite mining some of the same turf as The X - Files , it failed to achieve similar pop - culture meridian and was offset in mid-1999 . “ Millennium ” the episode features a guest - starring appearance by Millennium the series ’ lead character — Lance Henriksen ’s former FBI profiler Frank Black — who gets some gag rule for his storyline as a result , though it feels a fleck shoehorned into what ’s otherwise a fairly standard “ monster of the calendar week ” installment .

As the calendar marches toward December 31 , 1999 , a former FBI agent dies as a resultant role of suicide , which change state out to be the quaternary such incident in a curt amount of fourth dimension . The bureau flags the type after each man ’s grave is vandalized in what appear to be some kind of ritual . “ Grave robbing with a twist , ” as Agent Mulder ( David Duchovny ) yell it . And though there are the usual centre - rolls and paper - shuffling when he further elaborates on this memorial park funny business , everyone — including the usually - very - skeptical Agent Scully ( Gillian Anderson ) and FBI boss Skinner ( Mitch Pileggi)—lets him roll with it : “ It was necromancy , the summoning of the dead . It ’s a form of magic dating back to naive shamanism with a long tradition in the Christian church . Through it , the dead are brought back to living for the purposes of divulging arcane cognition and performing ritual tasks . ”

Mulder and Scully on the box art for a season seven X-Files DVD release.

Mulder and Scully on the box art for a season seven X-Files DVD release.Image: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Skinner evoke the Millennium Group — former FBI agents turned top - underground law - enforcement consultants who , as Scully tell , “ flow into disrepute ” after it became clear-cut they were a doomsday cultus — is involved . But what precisely are they up to ? In search of answers , Scully and Mulder top dog to the psychiatrical infirmary where Frank Black has checked in to recalibrate after his rocky hinge upon through Millennium . His Millennium Group entanglements run to the end of his wife during the serial , and when Mulder and Scully ascertain him , he ’s sweep in a custody battle with his former in - laws over his youthful daughter . He ’s so burned out , he wo n’t even look at the case filing cabinet they drop before him .

With New Year ’s Eve edge closer , Scully and Mulder — doing that “ working individually while coming to the same conclusions ” affair they did so well — see there ’s indeed a doomsday plot afoot … and it involves zombie , starting with the reanimated corpses of the four recently gone FBI agent - turned - Millennium Group intelligence agent , who volunteered for this duty as part of a plan they believed would hasten the destruction of the world . Holmes Osborne ( Donnie Darko ) wreak the lone hand who serves as their thaumaturge , performing the ceremonies , excavate up the eubstance , and grumble Book of Revelation verses under his breath . All seems on agenda until he ’s forced to turn one of his zombies on a cop who has the ill luck to detect the human biological agent he ’s cart in the back of his motortruck .

course , both Mulder and Scully have their own nigh encounter . “ He was dead , and then somehow he was n’t ! ” Scully groggily recounts to Skinner ; the “ rules ” of these creature are a little murky , but fortunately it seems this particular var. of shambling corpse wo n’t transform attack victim unless they die as a result . ( They do , however , succumb to headshots , as George A. Romero decreed . ) As for Frank Black , he step up when it counts , providing the agent with a visibility of the necromancer so incredibly accurate it ’s not really a surprise when we realize he knows exactly who Scully and Mulder are looking for . In fact , he have it off precisely what ’s at stake — that Millennium Group , man!—and ultimately decides he ’ll stand for the forces of commodity and help foreclose , you know , a Y2 K zombie Revelation of Saint John the Divine .

Ankercompact

sports fan of Millennium might have longed for another season of the show to really roll things up , but at least they mother to see Frank reunite with his girl in a minute that ’s mellisonant even without the context of three season of a completely different TV serial publication . ( “ Millennium ” was engineer by Thomas J. Wright , who also helmed virtually a third of Millennium ’s sequence ; it was co - written by Vince Gilligan , who famously go on to make Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul . ) Even sweeter , though , are the final second of the sequence , when Scully and Mulder find out Dick Clark on TV and share a spontaneous kiss to ring in the raw year . “ The populace did n’t end , ” they realize , and whether they intend 2000 continued without an undead uprising , or planet Earth maintain revolve even after Scully and Mulder had a romantic lip - lock … well , the answer ’s a little of both , perhaps .

The X - Files is uncommitted for streaming on Hulu .

need more io9 news ? curb out when to have a bun in the oven the latestMarvel , Star Wars , andStar Trekreleases , what ’s next for theDC Universe on picture and TV , and everything you want to fuck about the future ofDoctor Who .

Ms 0528 Jocasta Vision Quest