The Pine Bluff Variant
While the episode 18 of season five refers to a government conspiracy, it is one that is entirely separate from the ‘mythology’ episodes that form the over-arching thrust of the The X-Files series as a whole. Mulder goes undercover – so deep that even Scully doesn’t know about it – for the purpose of infiltrating a militia group known as the New Spartans.
Beginning with an FBI surveillance operation in a park, the agents participate in an attempt to apprehend a suspect named Haley (Daniel Von Bargen), who escapes having facilitated the death of another man by handing him an envelope contaminated with a biological weapon. Scully becomes suspicious of Mulder’s actions with regard to the case, and is eventually informed of his undercover status by Assistant Director Skinner. Learning more about the biological weapon – which kills by eating flesh – Scully becomes concerned for Mulder’s safety.
What follows is a two-pronged investigation. Scully follows up the science behind the weapon, while Mulder remains embedded within the group, who suspect him of a double-cross. Scully gathers more evidence when the group test their weapon on the audience of a movie theatre – leaving 14 people dead. It transpires that the contamination is spread by touch, and that the weapon was created by the government. Meanwhile, Mulder discovers that the group is planning a bank robbery, and it is these two points that lead to the conclusion that the terrorist organization plans a widespread biological attack by spraying the banknotes held in the vault.
As the case draws to a dramatic conclusion, and the body count rises, Mulder and Scully discuss the possibility that the entire operation was designed to facilitate a large-scale government testing of this flesh-destroying biological agent – once more tapping into the fears of many ordinary citizens.