History Recap / TheXFilesS08E11TheGift

* AbsenteeActor: Scully doesn't appear in this one except for archive footage from previous episodes.

* TragicMonster: The soul eater is a grotesque but very pitiable figure. He has the ability to eat the unhealthy organ of any human and cure it. However, he consumes the disease itself and is in constant pain. Because of this Mulder is unable to let it take his own illness, and later comes back to MercyKill it.

* KarmaHoudini: The entire town gets away with torturing the soul eater for years because Doggett can't write a report without also implicating Scully in the process.

->''"You and I both know what happened out there, Agent Doggett. No one else needs to."''

* WhamShot: The ColdOpen features a mysterious man shooting something, while his face is always obscured by the setting or the camera. When he gets back into his car, the camera pans up... and it turns out to be ''Mulder''.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"You give the FBI a narrative for Mulder's disappearance, you're off the X-Files and back on the fast-track to the directorship."'']]

* WhamLine: Doggett finally puts together why Mulder chose to become involved in the "soul eater" case.

->''" Three shots were fired in a house where Mulder investigated a case last May. He never filed a report on the case or the discharge of his weapon. Do you know any reason why?"''

----

* HeroicSacrifice: Doggett pulls one trying to save the soul eater from the townspeople, and the soul eater returns it in kind by bringing the agent back for the dead in exchange for his own life.

Following up one of Mulder's old cases in the hoping of learning what happened to him, Doggett discovers a town hiding a creature that can eat illness.

* ConscienceMakesYouGoBack: Mulder is unable to go through with inflicting the soul eater to the agony of his own illness, and leaves the town. A week before his abduction, knowing what the town was doing to him, Mulder drove back to the town to perform a MercyKill on the suffering soul eater.

* TownWithADarkSecret: The town has been torturing a soul eater for years, forcing it to cure their sicknesses, leaving him in constant agony from all the illnesses he absorbed. Even willing to resort to murder of an FBI Agent to keep their secret.

* WrittenInAbsence: The episode was written as Doggett-centric, with Scully hardly appearing (and said appearance is only in flashback stock-footage), to give Gillian Anderson time off to visit her family.

* BittersweetEnding: Agent Doggett is killed by the townspeople but resurrected by the soul eater, in exchange for his own life, ending his constant torment at last. Doggett is unable to bring the truth to light about the suffering the town inflicted on the soul eater, bringing them to justice without also implicating Scully, allowing them to get away with their crimes. And Doggett now has more insight into Mulder's mind and the kind of person he is.

* BittersweetEnding: Agent Doggett is killed by the townspeople but resurrected by the soul eater, in exchange for his own life, ending his everlasting torment at last. Doggett is unable to bring the truth to light about the suffering the town inflicted on the soul eater, bringing them to justice without also implicating Scully, allowing them to get away with their crimes. And Doggett now has more insight into Mulder's mind and the kind of person he is.

* MercyKill: What Mulder tried to do to the soul eater seeing its immense pain. Ultimately, the creature killed itself by taking away Doggett's death and freed itself from the evil townsfolk.
* TownWithADarkSecret: The town has been torturing a soul eater for years, forcing it to cure their sicknesses, leaving it in constant agaony from all the illnesses it absorbed. Even willing to resort to murder of an FBI Agent to keep their secret.
* TragicMonster: The soul eater is a grotesque but very pitiable figure. It has the ability to eat the unhealthy organ of any human and cure it. However, he consumes the disease itself and is in constant pain. Because of this Mulder is unable to let it take his own illness, and later comes back to MercyKill it.

* BackFromTheDead: Doggett gets killed by the corrupt sheriff and evil townsfolk to keep the soul eater. The soul eater then digs him up and consumes his mortal wounds to kill itself saving Doggett.
* EmpathicHealer: The soul eater can consume conditions to cure them from people in exchange for being afflicted with them itself. This includes going as far as to cure death in exchange for dying itself.

* TragicMonster: The soul eater is a grotesque but very pitiable figure. It has the ability to eat the unhealthy organ of any human and cure it. However, it consumes the disease itself and is in constant pain.

!!Tropes

* BackFromTheDead: Doggett gets killed by the corrupt sheriff and evil townsfolk to keep the soul eater. The soul eater then digs him up and consumes its death to kill itself saving Doggett.

* WrittenInAbsence: The episode was written as Doggett-centric, with Scully hardly appearing, to give Gillian Anderson time off to visit her family.

* LiquidAssets: The soul eater can consume conditions to cure them from people in exchange for being afflicted with them itself. This includes going as far as to cure death in exchange for dying itself.

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Doggett gets killed by the corrupt sheriff and evil townsfolk to keep the soul eater. The soul eater then digs him up and consumes it's death to kill itself saving Doggett.]]
* LiquidAssets: The soul eater can consume conditions to cure them from people in exchange for being afflicted with them itself. [[spoiler:This includes going as far as to cure death in exchange for dying itself.]]
* MercyKill: [[spoiler: What Mulder tried to do to the soul eater seeing it's immense pain. Ultimately, the creature killed itself by taking away Doggett's death and freed itself from the evil townsfolk.]]
* TragicMonster: The soul eater is a grotesque but very pitiable figure. It has the ability to eat the unhealthy organ of any human and cure it. However, it consumes the disease itself and is in constant pain.

!!Tropes