Essence

"Essence" is the twentieth episode of the of .
==Synopsis==
, and investigate lingering questions concerning Scully's pregnancy, reluctantly accepting help from when Scully begins to be pursued by ; now an indestructible Supersoldier following his abduction in 'Requiem' and return in 'DeadAlive'.
==Summary==
While preparing for Scully's baby shower, her mother invites Lizzy Gill to help Scully. Lizzy, who is not who she says she is, replaces one of Scully's medications.
Billy Miles verifies that the work that Zeus Genetics conducted is successful, kills Dr Lev and burns the lab, destroying all evidence, and the 'abomination' alien-human hybrid fetuses.
Mulder visits Doggett, informing him of the fire and asks to go along to see the facility. Mulder reveals that Dr Lev's partner is Scully's obstetrician, so they set off to visit him. They find another storage room of fetuses. They confront the doctor, who denies everything.
Back at Scully's home, she takes the replaced pills. Lizzy leaves and is picked up by Mr Haskell (Per Manum).
Later, as the doctor is spiriting away fetuses, Billy Miles appears. By the time Mulder and Doggett return, the doctor has been decapitated. They confront Billy Miles as Doggett puts several shots in him, without phasing him, and Billy escapes.
They go to Scully's house to regroup. Lizzy talks to Haskell on her cell phone, until Billy Miles shows up and decapitates him.
Skinner, Doggett, and Mulder find Mr. Haskell's body, and his cloning lab. They had apparently been monitoring Scully's pregnancy.
Scully catches Lizzy tampering with her medications, though Scully's doctors determine the replacements are vitamin supplements. Later, Lizzy tells the agents that Scully's baby is a perfect human child with no human weaknesses, and “one could only hope to create that in a lab”.
Billy Miles goes after Scully, just as she and Mulder escape. As Billy Miles is about to catch Mulder and Scully, Alex Krycek runs him over and takes them to Doggett and Skinner, just before Billy Miles gets back up. Krycek confesses that the aliens are trying to wipe out the humans' ability to survive the invasion.
Billy Miles shows up, and the agents sneak Scully out with Agent Reyes, while they lead him to the roof. Mulder pushes him off the roof and into a waiting garbage truck, which then compacts him. Scully and Reyes then pull away, and the scene ends with one of Doggett's agents, Agent Gene Crane, pointing them to safety, then turns around, revealing to the camera the scales on his spine.
==References==
Hybrids; Super-soldiers; Zeus Genetics
==Background Information==
*This episode was the first part of two and concluded with the season finale, ‘Existence’.
*The episode titles ‘Essence’ and ‘Existence’ are references to the traditional philosophical view that the essence (the nature) of a thing is more fundamental and immutable than its existence (the mere fact of its being). Mulder also refers to these concepts in the first lines of the episode: “We call it the miracle of life. Conception: a union of perfect opposites - essence transforming into existence - an act without which mankind would not exist, and humanity cease to exist.”
*The episode marks the return of Nicholas Lea as Alex Krychek. 
*Lizzy Gill says that Zeus Genetics was “trying to produce human clones, long before the media circus with sheep and cows”. This is a reference to the first successful cloned mammals, Dolly the sheep in 1997 and Daisy the cow in 1999. 
*The episode was written during a time of uncertainty for the series, as it was unclear whether or not the show would continue for a ninth season. Chris Carter had maintained for sometime that he would not continue the show without David Duchovny. However, Duchovny announced that he would leave the show for good after the end of the eighth season. Gillian Anderson’s contract was also due to expire at the end of the eighth season. Carter changed his position and announced he would continue with the show if Anderson agreed to another season. Eventually, Fox offered Anderson a financial incentive to stay, resulting in the retention of Carter and Anderson and the ninth and final season of the show.
=== Quotes ===
* Mulder: We call it the miracle of life. Conception: a union of perfect opposites - essence transforming into existence - an act without which mankind would not exist, and humanity cease to exist. Or is this just nostalgia now? An act of biology commandeered by modern science and technology? Godlike, we extract it, implant, inseminate... and we clone. But has our ingenuity rendered the miracle into a simple trick? In the artifice of replicating life, can we become the creator? Then what of the soul? Can it, too, be replicated? Does it live in this matter we call DNA? Or is its placement the opposite of artifice, capable only by God? How did this child come to be? What set its heart beating? Is it the product of a union? Or the work of a divine hand? An answered prayer? A true miracle? Or is it a wonder of technology - the intervention of other hands? What do I tell this child about to be born? What do I tell Scully? What do I tell myself?
===Cast and Characters===
*Arlene Pileggi (1st Woman Party-Goer) previously played Arlene in several episodes of and Second Agent in the episode "Fight Club". Arlene is the wife of Mitch Pileggi, who plays Walter Skinner.
*Jay Acovone (Duffy Haskell) previously played a recurring character in Stargate SG-1. Mitch Pileggi later played a recurring character in Stargate SG-1.
==Cast==
Starring
* as Former 
* as 
* as 
Also Starring
* as 
*Annabeth Gish as 
* as 
Guest Starring
* Frances Fisher as Lizzy Gill
* Jay Acovone as Duffy Haskell
* Kirk B.R. Woller as Gene Crane
* Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully
* Zachary Ansley as 
* Steven Anderson as Dr. James Parenti
* David Purdham as Dr. Lev
* Denise Crosby as Dr. Mary Speake
Co-Starring
* Arlene Pileggi as 1st Woman Party-Goer
* Karon Kearney as 2nd Woman Party-Goer
== External Links ==
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=Episode Navigation=
Category:The X-Files episodes
Category:The X-Files Season 8 episodes
Category:Mythology episodes