Some more of Agent Doggett's back story is revealed here regarding the son he lost ten years earlier, and it was Agent Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) who worked that missing person case with Doggett while he was still with the New York City Police Department. Reyes sees a connection between the death of Luke Doggett and the recent murder of two office employees where Jeb Dukes (Jay Underwood) was terminated from. When she examines the bodies of the victims, she sees their forms turned to ash, the same way she envisioned the body of Doggett's son when he was found.
As always, when The X-Files introduces a term I'm not familiar with, I try to do a little research, and it turns out Empedocles was an ancient Greek philosopher known for his brilliant oratory and penetrating knowledge of nature. Virtually the only connection I can make regarding his name as the title of the story has to do with one of the myths concerning his death. Some scholars believe he perished in the flames of Mt. Etna.
Probably the main attraction for X-Files fans in this episode is the presence of all four agents appearing together in a manner of speaking. For the most part, Scully is confined to a hospital bed because of her pregnancy, leaving Agent Reyes to expand on a theory regarding a connection between the Luke Doggett case and the current one involving Jeb Dukes. I pretty much came away with the conclusion that not much was resolved here regarding any link between the two, particularly since so much was made of Reyes's visions of bodies turned to ash.
As always, when The X-Files introduces a term I'm not familiar with, I try to do a little research, and it turns out Empedocles was an ancient Greek philosopher known for his brilliant oratory and penetrating knowledge of nature. Virtually the only connection I can make regarding his name as the title of the story has to do with one of the myths concerning his death. Some scholars believe he perished in the flames of Mt. Etna.
Probably the main attraction for X-Files fans in this episode is the presence of all four agents appearing together in a manner of speaking. For the most part, Scully is confined to a hospital bed because of her pregnancy, leaving Agent Reyes to expand on a theory regarding a connection between the Luke Doggett case and the current one involving Jeb Dukes. I pretty much came away with the conclusion that not much was resolved here regarding any link between the two, particularly since so much was made of Reyes's visions of bodies turned to ash.