The gunman falls to the floor with a bullet in his chest, "I'm dying." But the man with the calming presence tells him, "Nobody is going to die," as he lays his hand flat on the gunman's chest and the wound amazingly heals. Apparently, the house was the summer home of the Mulder family and CSM wants to reminisce about the pleasanter times they all spent there in the past. He mentions that he was a better water-skier than Bill Mulder, and that it was only one of many things he was better than Bill at...to which she replies that she has "repressed it all." In a shaky hand, she writes the letters P A L M...palm. He toys with the anagram "lamp" and looks suspiciously at the lamps in the house. By the time he's smashed the second table lamp, he's found what he's looking for. Hidden inside the base is an alien ice pick. Jeremiah tells CSM that humans are better than both of them, to which CSM replies, "I'm not one of you." JS says that CSM just "wants to be one of the commandants" when the process begins. But he says that this will never happen because CSM is dying of lung cancer. When Mulder realizes that Jeremiah is the man who healed the people in the restaurant, he says that he will listen to his story and information later but that he wants JS to come with him to heal his mother. JS agrees but suddenly a car pulls up and as the three of them stand watching, the Alien Bounty Hunter emerges from the car and approaches.

Talitha Cumi (part 1 of 2) The episode opens with a disturbed, disgruntled man in a fast food restaurant talking to himself. He suddenly pulls a gun and whirling, as he points the gun at the room in general, he yells, "Nobody moves!" As the patrons cower in fear and uncertainty, a man steps from the crowd and proceeds to calmly talk the man down as he prepares to take the gun from his hand. An anxious man tries to make a break for it out the door, and suddenly the gunman is shooting indiscriminately. As several people fall to the floor with gunshot wounds, a bullet blasts through the window as a sharpshooter finds his mark. The gunman falls to the floor with a bullet in his chest, "I'm dying." But the man with the calming presence tells him, "Nobody is going to die," as he lays his hand flat on the gunman's chest and the wound amazingly heals. When Mulder and Scully arrive on the scene, there are no casualties to be found but the Healing Man has disappeared...without a trace. The partners record the scene and interview the gunman who tells Mulder that the Healing Man must have been sent by God; that he healed him with the palm of his hand. Meanwhile, we see Mrs. Mulder arriving at a house in Quonochontaug, RI. The house looks abandoned and as she steps out on the back lawn, she is met by CSM. Apparently, the house was the summer home of the Mulder family and CSM wants to reminisce about the pleasanter times they all spent there in the past. He mentions that he was a better water-skier than Bill Mulder, and that it was only one of many things he was better than Bill at...to which she replies that she has "repressed it all." CSM says that's a shame since he came there to encourage her to remember something. As they begin to argue, our perspective drops back and we view them through a camera lens as an unknown third person snaps pictures. Mulder receives a phone call from Skinner who tells him his mother has been admitted to a hospital in Rhode Island and Scully leaves with him to check on Mrs. Mulder. When they arrive at his mother's bedside, Mulder is shocked and saddened to see her hooked to so many monitors. Scully tries to appease his conscious telling him that the stroke she suffered from might be something she can recover fully from; that the loss of speech and disorientation might be temporary conditions. When Mrs. Mulder sees her son, she becomes agitated and signals that she wants something to write on. In a shaky hand, she writes the letters P A L M...palm. Mulder can't help but leap to the theory that somehow this has something to do with the case they just started...the man who healed the shooting victims with the palm of his hand. Scully feels it is a side-effect of Mrs. Mulder's disorientation; that the word palm might mean nothing at all. They head back to Washington to review the media footage from the fastfood shooting scene. Apparently, a detective had been in the process of interviewing the Healing Man when he had suddenly disappeared. As they review the tape, they see the man standing there, and as a person walks past the frame of the picture, the man is suddenly gone but another man stands in his place. The new man is wearing the same clothes as the Healing Man. We then cut to the Social Security Administration where we see the Healing Man, who is named Jeremiah Smith, working at a computer terminal in a room filled with rows and rows of other workers. Suddenly, the room is quietly invaded by a flock of MIBs (I think flock is the correct terminology, though it may be drove, brood, pod, school...). The group of suits, lead by our good friend CSM, collar Jeremiah Smith as he attempts to slip out the back door. Mulder journeys to the beach house in Quonochontaug and into his past. He walks slowly through the house then onto the back porch where he looks out over the water, seemingly lost in thought. Approaching unheard from behind is Mr. X, who says, "He was here." Mulder turns, surprised and uncertain as to who "he" is. X tells him that CSM was here with his mother, and the news that they knew each other is a surprise to Mulder but obviously not to X. He tells Mulder that CSM wanted something from his mother; something that he thought was at the house. X wants to know if Mulder knows what it is. "It could be something very old. Most likely something very important." Mulder doesn't know and is more interested in finding out if CSM is responsible for his mother's present condition. X tells him that CSM was already gone when Mrs.Mulder collapsed and that he called 911 himself. Back in Washington, Scully happens upon Jeremiah Smith entering the FBI building. He says he heard he was being sought by the authorities for questioning and had come to turn himself in. When a panel, including Scully and Skinner, question JS, he says he can't remember anything following the shooting. He was surprised to hear the stories of his apparent healing of the wounded, but the first thing following the incident he remembers was being at his work station the next morning. Unable to hold JS on anything, Skinner tells him he can leave and they'll contact him if anything further is needed. At the Mulder's beach house, Mulder searches for whatever CSM might have been asking after. After unsuccessfully ransacking the place, he pulls out his notepad and flips to the page that his mother had scribbled on. Palm. He toys with the anagram "lamp" and looks suspiciously at the lamps in the house. By the time he's smashed the second table lamp, he's found what he's looking for. Hidden inside the base is an alien ice pick. The same tool that the Alien Bounty Hunter used to dispatch the green blooded hybrids. CSM has Jeremiah Smith held in restraints in a deserted jail. (This begs the question of who had the meeting at the FBI building with Scully and Skinner.) CSM has come to question JS about his actions in the fast food restaurant. He implies that he will now be responsible for crisis control in the wake of JS's actions and that it is a set-back for "the project"...implying Jeremiah's participation in the project. Jeremiah seems to feel that the people need some sort of sign, some hope in their lives. But CSM says they no longer have any faith; that their religion is science. He feels that any belief outside this will hinder the progress of their work. "The date is set," CSM says. Suddenly, JS morphs and looks exactly like Deep Throat. "How many people must die to preserve your stake in the project?", Jeremiah says. CSM is visibly shaken. On a second visit, CSM talks about the people of the world and how they need to be kept in ignorance because they are too afraid to utilize their freedom. "Anyone who can appease a man's conscience, can take his freedom." Jeremiah morphs into Bill Mulder, once again surprising CSM who still claims to be unimpressed with JS's parlor tricks. He accuses JS of thinking he's God. Jeremiah tells CSM that humans are better than both of them, to which CSM replies, "I'm not one of you." JS says that CSM just "wants to be one of the commandants" when the process begins. But he says that this will never happen because CSM is dying of lung cancer. CSM seems shaken and denies it (I can't imagine why!), accusing JS of simply wanting to save his own life. "And you?" queries JS. Mulder bursts into a meeting between Scully and Skinner and angrily demands to know who CSM is and where he can be found. Skinner says "these men don't have names" and the time when he might have known the location of CSM is long gone. Mulder tosses some of the pictures that X snapped of his mother and CSM into Skinner's hands and says that CSM is probably after JS; that they need to find him. Scully tells him that he's already been found; that he turned himself in earlier. Scully and Mulder head to the Social Security building to ask JS further questions, but as they lead him from an elevator, he throws himself into the crowd, morphing into another non-descript businessman and escapes. The morphed man is next seen at the prison where JS is being held and before entering, he morphs into none other than the Alien Bounty Hunter (Colony/End Game) and checks his ice-pick weapon before entering the facility. Seemingly sent to end the life of Jeremiah Smith, who can probably only be killed with that particular weapon placed precisely to the base of the neck, he enters to find JS's cell abandoned. It would seem that CSM has decided to deal with JS for his own restored health. Mulder returns to the hospital to check on his mother's progress. The doctor informs him that he must face the fact that his mother may not recover. Mulder weeps at his mother's bedside. As he exits her room, he sees CSM standing out in the hospital corridor. In a burst of unrestrained anger and frustration, Mulder rushes CSM and pinning him against the wall, holds a gun to his head. CSM claims to have simply come to visit Mrs. Mulder, noting that he has known her "since before you were born, Fox." I'm certain the use of his first name does not sit well with Mulder, who pushes him further then tells him he has what he wants, what he was looking for at the house. CSM tells Mulder that he only went because Mrs. Mulder wanted information; info about Samantha. Unfortunately, he says the man who had the info has disappeared. Mulder is met in a parking garage by X, who wants the weapon that Mulder has found. He confirms Mulder's belief that it is the only way to kill the alien/hybrids, saying "A simple gunshot won't do." X says he wants it because it may be useful in the future, but Mulder won't turn it over to him. He tells Mulder that he will be killed for it; that they won't hesitate this time to martyr him to his cause. Mulder wants to get the picture straight so asks, "What we're talking about here is colonization. The date is set, isn't it?" As Mulder turns to leave, X suddenly strikes out at him and a huge fight ensues and ends in a stalemate with each of them drawing their guns simultaneously and walking away. "You're a dead man, Agent Mulder. One way or the other," X says in parting. While Mulder has been out getting beat up, Scully has been doing a computer search of the Social Security personnel files and has discovered that there are five or six Jeremiah Smith's listed as employees. As she calls up the files, she can see that they all work in various states but they all are identical in appearance. She arrives home and as she goes to make a call, a knock is heard at her door. Looking through the peephole, she sees JS standing out in the hall. With the lights out, she has him enter with his hands raised as she holds a gun on him. He tells her she has nothing to fear from him; that he has come to share with her important information that her partner will be interested in. She asks him why he didn't tell her at their earlier meeting, to which he replies that he's never met her before. This is apparently the real Jeremiah Smith who was released by CSM and never had the meeting with Scully and Skinner or Scully and Mulder. He tells Scully that he has a story to tell Mulder that "involves an elaborate plan, a project, and his sister." As he tells her this, Mulder calls and Scully relays the information to him and the fact that JS is with her. Mulder gives them an address where they can meet, and when they arrive Mulder holds the alien ice-pick on JS after getting Scully safely behind him. Jeremiah assures Mulder that he is in no danger from him but that the man who impersonated him before is probably looking for JS with the intention of killing him. When Mulder realizes that Jeremiah is the man who healed the people in the restaurant, he says that he will listen to his story and information later but that he wants JS to come with him to heal his mother. JS agrees but suddenly a car pulls up and as the three of them stand watching, the Alien Bounty Hunter emerges from the car and approaches. The Bounty Hunter draws his weapon and Mulder stands poised with a similar weapon. "He's here to kill me," JS says as the tension mounts and the outcome is uncertain...To Be Continued. Painful, isn't it? Imagine waiting over four months for the conclusion.