30 years ago, X-Files dropped the first clue as to who Mulder’s real father is

Season 3 of The X-Files is full of standout episodes, and its finale “Talitha Cumi” quietly planted one of the show’s biggest revelations. The episode folds into the series’ central mythology about government conspiracy, aliens and UFOs while also shifting the Mulder family story.

The case at the center of the episode involves a man who heals with a touch during a hostage situation at a fast-food restaurant. At the same time, Mulder’s mother has a stroke after a tense exchange with the Cigarette Smoking Man, linking the Mulders to that shadowy figure in a new, personal way.

Earlier episodes had already shown that the Cigarette Smoking Man worked with Bill Mulder at the State Department, that Bill was tied to “The syndicate,” and that Samantha Mulder was taken after her father refused to choose a child as collateral.

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