One year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, I used the mid-day break to watch The X-Files. I randomly popped in the season two episode “One Breath” and realized that Mulder’s journey throughout this episode relates wonderfully to the journey many Jews take on this holiday. Now on Yom Kippur I always think of “One Breath” and Mulder’s process of letting go of his anger.
Before I continue, I should briefly explain the holiday. Yom Kippur comes after ten days of introspection that begin on the Jewish new year of Rosh Hashana. The task during these days is to look inside yourself and ask what sins you may have committed in the past year and then ask for forgiveness so that you can start the new year fresh.
Mulder begins “One Breath” in anger. When Scully arrives at the hospital unconscious after her abduction, he yells at the doctors, “How did she get here? Who did this to her?” He even goes so far as to threaten: “If you’re with them… Whatever it takes, I’ll find out what they did to her.”
