Season 7: Closure (7X11)

Written by: Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
Directed by: Kim Manners

Mulder and Scully aid the Sacramento Police in their investigate of Scruloff, the owner of the Santa Village, as more children's bodies are uncovered. He admits to having killed 24 children, but refuses to take the blame for Amber's death. Mulder is approached by psychic, Harold Piller, he explains that he has helped police forces around the world and has found evidence that children's bodies have been taken from accident scenes by ''Walk-ins''.

He believes that they save the children from terrible fates. Scully worried about Harold's influence over Mulder in his vulnerable state returns to Washington to investigate further. Back in California, Harold has a vision of Mulder's mother that leads them to the April Air Force Base.

Meanwhile Scully discovers documents in Tena Mulder's house that link back to the Cigarette Smoking Man, when she returns to her apartment she finds him waiting there. He explains that he called off the search for Samantha ecause he knew she was dead.

Mulder however uncovers evidence that Samantha was living with the Cigarette Smoking Man and his son, Jeffrey Spender at April Air Force Base. When Scully finds a police report in 1979 of a runaway fitting Samantha's description taken to a hospital emergency room. They trace the nurse who treated her, who describes the girl disappearing in similar circumstances to Amber. Mulder has a vision of Samantha and realises she is in a better place, a realisation that at last enables him to feel free.

Notes:
This episode's tagline changes to 'Believe to Understand', signifying Mulder's realisation of his sister's demise.

Deleted Scene: Scully and 2 cops question Harold Piller.

Quotes:
Mulder: (voiceover) They said the birds refused to sing and the thermometer fell suddenly... as if God Himself had His breath stolen away. No one there dared speak aloud, as much in shame as in sorrow. They uncovered the bodies one by one. The eyes of the dead were closed as if waiting for permission to open them. Were they still dreaming of ice cream and monkey bars? Of birthday cake and no future but the afternoon? Or had their innocence been taken along with their lives, buried in the cold earth so long ago? These fates seemed too cruel, even for God to allow. Or are the tragic young born again when the world's not looking? I want to believe so badly; in a truth beyond our own, hidden and obscured from all but the most sensitive eyes... In the endless procession of souls, in what cannot and will not be destroyed. I want to believe we are unaware of God's eternal recompense and sadness. That we cannot see His truth. That that which is born still lives and cannot be buried in the cold earth. But only waits to be born again at God's behest... where in ancient starlight we lay, in repose.

Mulder: How long have you been doing this?

Harold Piller: A few years. I have a son who disappeared... under strange circumstances. He's never been found. And then one day I just, uh... started to see them.
Mulder: These walk-ins — you say they come and take the children. Why?
Harold Piller: In almost every case the parents had a precognitive image of their child dead. Horrible visions. I believe what this is, is the work of good spirits. Foretelling their fates. The fate the child was about to meet. A particularly violent fate that wasn't meant to be... which is why the spirits intervene transforming matter into pure energy. Starlight. But it's not what happened here.
Mulder: How do you know that?
Harold Piller: Because these children... all died suffering. Pleading innocently for their lives. These beautiful children, so... trusting and pure. I see them. My God, why? Why must some suffer and not others?
Mulder: You see them. Do you see Amber Lynn LaPierre?
Harold Piller: She wasn't here. She never was. But I'm... I'm sensing a connection with her... to this place. It... No, it's a connection to... It's a connection to you.
Mulder: How's that?
Harold Piller: You lost someone close to you. A young girl. It happened a... a long time ago. A sister. There's a connection between these girls, isn't there? Between her and Amber Lynn.
Mulder: What is the connection?
Harold Piller: I don't know. But we're going to find them. I'm sure of it.

Smoking Man: I should've grabbed it for you. I like to make myself useful.

Scully: You can start by putting out that cigarette.
Smoking Man: Got it all figured out, don't you, Agent Scully?
Scully: All but why you can't just come to the door and knock.
Smoking Man: I did that. No one answered.
Scully: You're sick.
Smoking Man: I had an operation.
Scully: What do you want?
Smoking Man: I want you to stop looking.
Scully: You've wanted that since 1973... when you ordered an end to the search for Agent Mulder's sister. Your initials are on that document.
Smoking Man: Yes, I signed that order because I knew then what I know now: No one's going to find her.
Scully: Why not?
Smoking Man: Because I believe she's dead. No reason to believe otherwise.
Scully: You're a liar. If you knew that she was dead why didn't you say something earlier? Why now?
Smoking Man: There was so much to protect before. It's all gone now.
Scully: So you just let Mulder believe that she was alive for all these years.
Smoking Man: Out of kindness, Agent Scully. Allow him his ignorance. It's what gives him hope.

Scully: When did you come up with this story, Mulder? Because yesterday, when I spoke to you, you said that the Smoking Man wasn't involved.

Mulder: Well, it turns out you were right, Scully. He had every reason to call off the hunt for my sister. After her abduction, she was returned to him and he raised her at the military base along with his son, Jeffrey Spender.
Scully: Mulder...
Mulder: Scully, I saw her name in the cement. Her handprints, right next to his.
Scully: Mulder, I spoke to him. The Smoking Man, CGB Spender, whatever his name is...
Mulder: You went to him?
Scully: He told me that she was dead.
Mulder: Oh, well... he's a liar.
Scully: Mulder, why would he lie now? I mean, think about it. It hurts me to tell you this.
Mulder: The handprints prove he's a liar! I saw her handprints in the cement. Her name, Samantha, right underneath them. How more obvious can it be? Harold Piller led me there. He led me right to them.
Scully: Oh, he led you, Mulder. He led you from the moment that he met you.

Mulder: You know, I never stop to think... that the light is billions of years old by the time we see it. From the beginning of time right past us into the future. Nothing is ancient in the universe. But, maybe they are souls, Scully. Travelling through time as starlight, looking for homes. I wonder what my mother saw. And I wonder what she was trying to tell me.

Scully: Go get some sleep.
Mulder: All right.

Highlights from ''Sein und Zeit'' and ''Closure''

Episode Number: 150
Season Number: 7
First Aired: Sunday, February 13, 2000
Production Code: 7X11