Secrets and Lies

Though Nazi references have peppered episodes since the first season (as in Purity Control, the name for the hybridization project), they proliferated in the movie, which established the Syndicate as a sort of Vichy government, collaborating with the aliens to save their own sorry hides. The two-parter will continue that story line, with the faceless aliens (the ones with a penchant for torching folk) fulfilling the role of the Resistance. A tidy metaphor, yet (one feels it's necessary to point out) Nazis as definition of evil — well, hasn't that been done before? ''Chris's vision for the show — which all of us acknowledge — is, that, you know, what we're dealing with is so ridiculous,'' says Spotnitz. ''So you need to do everything to make it seem believable, like analogies to things we know to be true.''

Left unanswered: the burning question of Fox Mulder's paternity. (Duchovny is going the Star Wars route, assuming CSM is Mulder's Darth Vader of a father: ''It makes mythological sense.'' Carter will only add, ''We haven't said definitely not. What we have said is that he is definitely Samantha's father.'') Nor will we learn the true significance of Gibson Praise, the psychic brainiac kid, who, according to this season's premiere, was some kind of missing link. ''The kid — and most certainly the idea of the kid — will come back, [probably] next year,'' says Spotnitz. ''He's key in explaining the idea, argued in the movie, that aliens were here before, and that this kid has got alien DNA, and perhaps all civilians have it.''

In the meantime, we'll have plenty of drama to entertain us — including a potential alien invasion. For though most of the players' motivations will be explained, Mulder's Holy Grail — Samantha — must still be found. This season's remaining conspiracy episodes, says Carter, will deal with the ''men and women left standing. How are these people going to survive [an alien invasion] and to what lengths will they go to do that?''

''The analogy I make in my own mind,'' says Spotnitz, ''is that these episodes are like the fall of the Soviet Union. Players and pieces are still there, but what happens will change the dynamics of everything.''

Carter and Spotnitz are tentatively planning a three-parter to end this season, something they've never done before. As for next year, any bets on who'll be left standing in the series' finale? ''Out of a cloud of dust, Krycek will walk,'' predicts Dean Haglund of the show's ultimate rogue, the one-armed Rat Boy. Harwood agrees: ''He might have only one leg left, but he'll be the last one standing.''