[[WMG:[[center:[-'''RECAP:'''\\
[[Recap/TheXFiles Index]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E01Within 1]] | '''2''' | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E03Patience 3]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E04Roadrunners 4]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E05Invocation 5]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E06Redrum 6]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E07ViaNegativa 7]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E08Surekill 8]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E09Salvage 9]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E10Badlaa 10]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E11TheGift 11]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E12Medusa 12]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E13PerManum 13]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E14ThisIsNotHappening 14]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E15Deadalive 15]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E16ThreeWords 16]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E17Empedocles 17]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E18Vienen 18]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E19Alone 19]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E20Essence 20]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS08E21Existence 21]]]]-]]]
'''Season 8, Episode 02:'''
!Without
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thexfileswithout.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Ladies and gentlemen, our new duo for the "X-Files": Scully and [[Creator/RobertPatrick the]] [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay T-1000]].]]
->Written by Creator/ChrisCarter\\
Directed by Kim Manners

->'''Scully:''' Your men are at the hospital?\\
'''Doggett:''' They got it controlled. Nobody goes in or out of that building [[TitleDrop without]] them knowing about it.\\
'''Scully:''' [[ParanoiaFuel HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THEY'RE YOUR MEN?]]

The search for Mulder is complicated by the involvement of a shape-shifting alien bounty hunter.
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!!Tropes:
* AgentScully: Interestingly, the trope namer is not fulfilling this role here. The role is played by Agent Doggett.
* AntiHero: Doggett is a good man just following orders from a BadBoss and comes to know how he is also being used in this game by Kersh and other higher authorities. He ends up getting assigned to the X-Files along with Scully. Despite his rigid and uptight personality he genuinely wants to find Mulder and the truth, help Scully.
* BittersweetEnding: On the bitter side, Skinner and Scully are brutally beaten by the Alien Bounty Hunter and the search in Arizona is called off, leaving Mulder tragically lost to Scully aboard the alien vessel. On the sweet side, Scully has killed the, or at least an Alien Bounty Hunter and saved Gibson Praise from the aliens. Special Agent Doggett is also assigned to the X-Files, vowing to help her find Mulder.
* ContinuitySnarl: This episode ignores the previous established rule from Mr X that a gun, even shot at the back of the neck, will not kill the Alien Bounty Hunter.
** It is also ignored that in previous episodes the Alien Bounty Hunter could not shapeshift new clothing, but he clearly does so in this episode.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Despite his status as TheDreaded, TheHeavy, TheJuggernaut and a OneManArmy, among other tropes, and how brutal and unstoppable a powerhouse he has been since first appearing, probably the biggest physical threat of the entire series, the Alien Bounty Hunter is suddenly dropped unceremoniously in a single shot from Scully, despite it being an example of ContinuitySnarl.
* KilledOffForReal: The Alien Bounty Hunter is finally killed off in this episode by Scully. Whether it is the original Alien Bounty Hunter is left unknown, as the ending reveals several more alien figures with the same default form on the UFO, observing Mulder.
* PlotArmor: Scully isn't blinded and burned by the Alien Bounty Hunter's blood the way everyone else is.
* PutOnABus: The Alien Bounty Hunters are never seen again after this episode.
* ThePromise: Doggett makes one to Scully that he will find Mulder.
* MythArc: Mulder's disappearance due to extraterrestrials taking him away drives the episode's story.
* SayMyName: Scully yelling Mulder's name in the desert where she thinks he may be returned, and Mulder on the ship yelling her name as well.
* WhamShot: All the aliens at the end gathering around a helpless Mulder have the same default shape shifting appearance as the Alien Bounty Hunter, throwing into doubt whether it was the same one all along since his first appearance.
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->''"Whatever you and I may differ on, I'll find him, Agent Scully."''