Milagro was everything we might hope for from TXF universe and more; devilishly-well-written and superbly directed and acted, as heavy with subtext as any recent allegory: the writer as both master of and slave to his own creation. Whereas the entire season has toyed with the themes of fate and intention, here Scully comes face to face with Fate personified; Padgett literally holds her life in his hands, and she seems to see her own desire for mastery and control reflected in his patient sublimation of passion and reason to his terrifying work.

"There is only one way it can end"; the writer either asserts a totalitarian authority or loses himself to his own creation, a life that - in changing the lives of others - achieves a kind of independence from its creator, and enters the world on its own terms. Despite all the lowbrow nods to Stephen King, HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe, Padgett had the highbrow complexity of a Raskolnikov, an intelligent man who allows his singular passion to confuse art with morality. And - as in Crime and Punishment - the detective mirrors the thief's cunning and ethical quandary; he knows his prey but must patiently wait for him to give himself away, to expose his fatal flaw. But the triangulated relationship between Mulder, Scully and Padgett means that every move in the game is reflected twice, with Padgett serving as a dark alter ego to both Mulder the brilliant, conflicted behavioral psychologist and Scully the repressed but yearning lover. Padgett may stand in for Carter, for the loyal team of writers that produced this stunning episode, and we may be the hapless victims of his tale. Left standing at the end are those durable creations of the producer's art, the timeless Mulder and Scully, who will outlive us all.

 I read this as a parable of 1013, written by immensely talented individuals who've been with the phenomenon that is TXF from the start. They have over the course of time loved, but also done violence to these characters, have twisted them in trying to posess them. In the end, as I mentioned above, Mulder and Scully outlive their creators and take on a life of their own.