"Requiem" was most definitely a season finale to remember. Many questions are being pondered in the minds of X-Philes this summer, such as: Is the Cigarette-Smoking Man really dead? Where in the world is Mulder? Is he coming back? And also: Who is the father of Scully's baby? Well, let's take a look at the two possiblities that are floating around right now.

Possibility #1: Mulder is the father.

Here's one that's easy to believe. It's usually the first idea that comes to mind, as well. Cut back to "all things" (the episode written and directed by Gillian Anderson). In the first scene, we see Scully get dressed in Mulder's bathroom (Well, we don't actaully see her get dressed, but we assume she was), pick up her coat, and leave, walking past Mulder, asleep in his bed, covered by nothing but a blanket. Here's what I've come to conclude. The only way that Scully could've gotten into that bathroom is through Mulder's bedroom. Mulder only has one bathroom in his apartment (through his bedroom). So, why would Scully walk undressed through Mulder's room to get to the bathroom? And, more importantly, *why* did Scully get undressed in the first place?

On another note: When Mulder was shown sleeping in the bed, I noticed that there was another pillow next to him which looked as if to have been occupied by someone else (Scully). Also, has anyone besides me noticed how much more emotionally closer Mulder and Scully are now than at the beginning of the season? They seem to be acting alot more like a couple lately, watching Caddyshack at Mulder's apartment with popcorn in "Je Souhaite", and going on a little 'shopping spree' at the end of "Hollywood A.D.", for instance. And every shipper remembers the bed scene in "Requiem" where Mulder and Scully cuddled in the hotel bed (I later learned that the position they were in is reffered to as 'spooning'). You don't recall them ever doing such things during, say, season 5, have you? And, we mustn't forget those little extra added touches and flirty remarks exchanged in late season 7 episodes.

Anywhoo, cutting back to the end of "all things", Scully falls asleep next to Mulder on his couch while he talks about choosing paths in life. Mulder ever-so-gently brushes a strand of hair out of his sleeping partner's face, pulls a blanket up over her, and as the camera moves to the left, we see him get up off the couch...do do what? Perhaps get his bedroom ready for a little you-know-what?

And that's not all--there's still something else to consider. I read that in a recent Italian radio broadcast, David Duchovny said that Mulder was the father. What more evidence do you need?

Possibility #2: CSM is the father.

I, for one, find this a pretty outrageous theory to believe, but it does have that X-Filey twist added to it. Jump way back to mid-season, when "En Ami" (William B. Davis's episode) aired. We discover that our cold-hearted villian CSM actually displays an affection for Agent Scully. When our heroine falls asleep in the car being driven by CSM, he brushes a strand of hair out of her face (notice how Mulder did that too at the end of "all things") and puts on some gloves. The camera then cuts to the next morning, where Scully wakes up in a bed, dressed in her p.j.'s and not remembering any of the events of the previous night. She gets dressed and walks out down to CSM, who is making coffee. Scully yells at him, asking what he did to her, and why she doesn't remember. CSM says that she was delirious, since she was half-asleep, and had been awake, driving, without sleep the night before last.

So, here's theory # 2, in a nutshell. Many fans think that while Scully was asleep, CSM inplanted her ova back into her, thus giving her the ability to become pregnant. (We find out Scully is barren in the 5th season episode "Christmas Carol", where she tells her mother she cannot conceive a child as a result of her abduction.) CSM then impregnates Scully, and the next morning, she doesn't remember a thing.

Plausible, but believable? You decide. I for one am in agreement with theory number one. ::sigh:: This is going to be one long summer.