In issue three of "The X-Files: Origins", available now from IDW Publishing, Mulder and Scully’s stories begin to intertwine as the two teens unravel more of the conspiracies surrounding them. Read on for our spoiler-filled review of Origins Part Three.
In 1974 Massachusetts, young Fox is growing increasingly angry at the local adults who continue to lie to him and his friends. While out for a bike ride, he is surprised by the young blonde girl he spotted in the wood who convinces him to keep digging. Recruiting Tim back into the fold, the boys head to Eric’s house only to witness his father handing over the evidence they discovered last issue to the military. Eric is naturally reluctant to believe his father is involved in any conspiracy, but over ice cream the boys convince him to help them continue their investigation, if only to prove his father’s innocence.
The gang head back to the woods, only to find is has been cleared of all evidence. Eric quickly becomes convinced that this whole thing is an elaborate prank being played out by Tim and Fox, but as the boys argue, Tim spots something through the trees. A glowing green figure in what looks to be a hazmat/astronaut/diving suit is lying on the ground, surrounded by the green ooze. As the boys approach, the figure stirs and reaches out to them for help. To be continued…
Over in California it’s still the summer of 1977 and young Dana has stalled in her own investigation into the murder of her Sunday school teacher Mr. Wilson. She has collected a number of clues but struggles to resolve them into any answers, despite attempting to channel the many detectives she has read about - from Nancy Drew to Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple.
At the Miramar Naval Base, her father Rear Admiral Scully risks questioning his superiors over the discrepancies he found in the base’s books. Stonewalled, he goes to leave only to discover a note taped to his car window giving details of a meeting place and time.
Dana sets out to keep watch on Mr. Wilson’s house when she is startled by the arrival of her own mysterious blonde acquaintance, Mercy. The girls are excited about the prospect of a stake out, and soon enough two cars roll up outside the house, only Dana is shocked to realize one of the drivers is her father.
Admiral Scully meets with Donald Russell who reveals himself to be the now washed up father of Fox’s friend Eric. He explains to the admiral how he and the Oceanographic Institute he worked for became involved with a covert military group, their work guided to the point where they were no longer doing their own research, but that which the military dictated to them. He reveals that eventually people, including his son Eric, “got hurt.” Admiral Scully demands to know how this affects him to which Russell explains that the same military group has now moved on and is operating secretly out of the admiral’s base. He passes over files he salvaged before his own world fell apart in the hopes that they might help stop the group this time around and save Admiral Scully’s kids.
Dana is shocked and deeply upset by what she believes she witnessed. Mercy suggests she simply ask her father for the truth, but as that means revealing that she was sneaking about at night, Dana dismisses the suggestion. Instead she goes for a walk alone to the beach where she discovers a symbol carved into a rock - the same symbol she found at Mr. Wilson’s house. However, as soon as she discovers the marking, she is startled by the arrival of a mysterious man in a trench coat. To be continued..
Issue three begins to tie together the two separate Origins stories, linking them by their conspiracies which appear now to have the same military group at their hearts. While I am interested to see how deep this connection goes, I do hope the stories remain distinct and don’t somehow result in teenage Mulder and Scully meeting. Having one of the minor characters from Mulder’s story show up in Scully’s, now several years older and a “wreck” compared to how we have seen him so far, is a clever move and I hope the two stories are able to build on what could be a promising twist.
Scully’s story is the definite stand out from this book. It is in her story that we really make progress with the reveal of the joint conspiracy which also begins to resolve Admiral Scully’s bookkeeping plot. Mulder’s is a fairly weak affair this issue, with almost nothing of import happening in the woods of Massachusetts until the final pages. That being said, we once again see some interesting and well executed plot parallels as both Dana and Eric struggle to accept the evidence that their fathers are involved in something mysterious and probably dangerous.
Origins continues to be a fantastic mini-series offering a whole new look into the X-Files universe, and it once again has me eager to read what happens next.