[[WMG:[[center:[-'''RECAP:'''\\
[[Recap/TheXFiles Index]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E01TheBlessingWay 1]] | '''2''' | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E03DPO 3]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E04ClydeBruckmansFinalRepose 4]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E05TheList 5]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E06TwoShy 6]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E07TheWalk 7]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E08Oubliette 8]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E09Nisei 9]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E10SevenThreeOne 10]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E11Revelations 11]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E12WarOfTheCoprophages 12]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E13Syzygy 13]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E14Grotesque 14]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E15PiperMaru 15]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E16Apocrypha 16]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E17Pusher 17]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E18TesoDosBichos 18]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E19HellMoney 19]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E20JoseChungsFromOuterSpace 20]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E21Avatar 21]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E22Quagmire 22]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E23Wetwired 23]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS03E24TalithaCumi 24]]]]-]]]
'''Season 3, Episode 02:'''
!Paper Clip
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thexfilespaperclip.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"There are truths out there that aren't on that tape."'']]
->Written by Creator/ChrisCarter\\
Directed by Rob Bowman

->'''Byers:''' Are you familiar with a post-World War II project known as Operation [[TitleDrop Paper Clip]]?\\
'''Mulder:''' Our deal with the devil. The U.S. government provided safe haven for certain Nazi war criminals in exchange for their scientific knowledge.

Mulder and Scully are reunited.[[note]]and it feels so good.[[/note]] The former learns about the government's part in the alien hybrid project, and about his father's part in his sister's abduction. Meanwhile, the latter can only hope for her sister's survival after an accidental assassination attempt. But both are being hunted by the CSM's group...
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!!Tropes:
* AnyoneCanDie: Scully's sister Melissa succumbs to her gunshot wound in this episode.
* BadassBoast: Skinner gets one of the best in the series in his ShutUpHannibal moment with CSM:
-->'''Skinner:''' This is where you pucker up and kiss my ass.\\
'''CSM:''' Now, listen you--\\
'''Skinner:''' Now you listen to me, you son of a bitch! This man's name is Albert Hosteen. You should remember that. Because if Agents Mulder and Scully come down with so much as a case of the flu, Albert is prepared to recite, chapter and verse, file for file, everything on your precious tape.\\
'''CSM:''' It's a nice try, Skinner.\\
'''Skinner:''' I'm sure you're thinking Albert is an old man and there are plenty of ways you might kill him too. Which is why, in the ancient oral tradition of his people, he's told twenty other men the information on those files. So unless you kill every Navajo living in four states... that information is available with a simple phone call. ''(smirks)'' Welcome to the wonderful world of high technology.
* BigDamnHeroes: Hosteen pulls a non-action variant.
* CallToAgriculture: Victor Klemper is a former Nazi scientist who was offered an asylum in the States. He was employed by the Syndicate as a biologist trying to create an alien human hybrid. When agents Mulder and Scully come to confront him, he is working in his greenhouse on his flowers, particularly orchids, all blooming and very beautiful.
* CantStopTheSignal: Skinner secures Mulder and Scully's safety by informing CSM that the information on the tape has been memorized by Albert Hosteen and twenty other randomly chosen Navajo, all of whom have been instructed to go public if Mulder or Scully are harmed. And Krycek promises to reveal its secrets if CSM ever goes after him.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Skinner changed from a shady figure who might be evil to a still shady figure who would always back Mulder and Scully up.
* EvilBrit: The Well-Manicured Man, a prominent member of the Syndicate, speaks in British accent.
* FakingTheDead: Krycek calls CSM to let him know the attempt on his life failed. He intends to stay off the radar, but as he has the tape, he warns CSM to never try to find him.
* GunpointBanter: Scully and Skinner after the teaser, and Mulder joins a moment later.
* HerrDoktor: Nazi MadScientist Victor Klemper. (Not to be confused with the real-world [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Klemperer Victor Klemperer]].)
* ImpliedDeathThreat: The Cigarette Smoking Man does this twice, first to Krycek over the phone (particularly audacious considering he's simultaneously trying to convince a room full of men that Krycek is already dead) and again with Skinner, who turns this around on him.
-->'''Krycek:''' I'm sure of this... if I so much as feel your presence, I'm going to make you a very, very famous man. You understand?
* MagicalNativeAmerican: Mulder was brought back to life by a Native American ritual after getting gassed in a boxcar full of dead alien hybrids -- although Albert Hosteen's role does turn out to be far more layered and important than just being a Font of Native Wisdom.
* ManHug: Frohike gives one to Mulder after seeing that he's alive.
* MeaningfulLook: Scully to Mulder at his apartment elevator, she expressing her relief that he's alive.
* MexicanStandoff: Scully and Skinner's continues from "Blessing Way". Mulder joins them and resolves the issue.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Victor Klemper's backstory is inspired by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubertus_Strughold Hubertus Strughold]], a German scientist who experimented on camp inmates at Dachau (immersing them in freezing water and placed in pressure chambers) on behalf of the Luftwaffe. Like Klemper, he emigrated to the United States after the war and took part in research for NASA, helping to develop astronaut pressure suits and life support systems; Strughold was never held accountable for his crimes before dying in 1986. Strughold is the name used for the mining corporation where the records are kept, and later used for Conrad Strughold, the overall head of the Syndicate.
* NotQuiteDead: Viewers already knew it, but in this episode, the Well-Manicured Man learns and reports to the rest of the Syndicate that Mulder is alive.
* OhCrap: Krycek when he realizes he's in a car that's about to explode.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: CSM is under a lot of pressure in regards to the tape, so he lets his usually cool demeanor slip when Skinner first talks about a deal.
* SadisticChoice: William Mulder was forced to choose which of his kids, Fox or Samantha, would be abducted.
* ShutUpHannibal: When Skinner tries to bluff about still having the tape, CSM shuts him down and proceeds to ridicule him. Skinner, however, then invites Albert Hosteen to join them and plays that card.
* ThoseWackyNazis: Klemper is a former Nazi scientist. He was employed by the US government and the Syndicate after the war.
* TruthInTelevision: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip Operation Paperclip]].
* VillainousBreakdown: CSM has a brief but notable one when Skinner first tells him he has the tape.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Once Krycek steals the tape back from Skinner, CSM intends to blow both him and it up. Krycek realizes in time what's about to happen, though.
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->''"I've heard the truth, Mulder. Now what I want are the answers."''