Recap / The X-Files S02 E09 "Firewalker"

RECAP:
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Season 2, Episode 09:

Firewalker

"Our meddling intellect misshapes the beauteous forms of things we murder to dissect."

Written by Howard Gordon
Directed by David Nutter

Mulder: He discovered the spore in the samples Firewalker brought up.
O'Neil: He would have told us.
Mulder: Not if what he discovered was too disturbing even for him to understand.

Mulder and Scully investigate mysterious events at a scientific project using a robotic probe, "Firewalker", to explore the interior of a volcano.

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Tropes:

• Chest Burster: The alien fungus-like organisms grow in human chests, though it ultimately bursts through a victim's throat.
• Continuity Nod: Mulder is hesitant to bring Scully along due to the events surrounding her abduction, but she insists she's ready.
• I Choose to Stay: Trepkos decides not to go back with Mulder and Scully, staying behind to take Jessie's corpse down his hiding place.
• In the Back: This is how Ludwig goes down, courtesy of Trepkos and a flare gun. However, Trepkos did have good reasons for this, since Ludwig was going to have an alien fungus burst out from his throat.
• Kill It with Fire: Trepkos shoots Ludwig with a flare gun twice, setting the man alight and killing both him and the parasite residing inside that man.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Mourning her death, Trepkos recalls how he convinced Jessie to join the operation to "have an adventure."
• Not Himself: The guest characters insist this about Trepkos.
• Silicon-Based Life: The alien organism that Mulder and Scully went to check is not carbon-based, but silicon-based, meaning it's Not of This Earth.
• Teacher/Student Romance: Hinted at between Jessie and Trepkos, two scientists working at the station.

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"And of the events that occurred at Mount Avalon between the 11th and 13th of November, 1994, mine stands as the only record."