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The Hand of St.Sebastian/ Skull and Bones


"The Hand of St.Sebastian" is an amazing episode and one of my absolute favorites.
"Skull and Bones" is also pretty good and for me the first GREAT episode from S3, but in a way it tries to run away from "The Hand of St.Sebastian".

If they wanted to run away from S2, why did they made another tongue-in-cheek episode like "13 Years Later"?

And was Cheryl Andrews's arrest in Germany the same that we had seen in S2?
If yes, why was she released? How did she learn about the virus, while in prison?

If not and if that was a complete re-write of continuity, then shame on season 3.

I love S1 (with the exception of 2 episodes) and I also love 12 episodes from S2 and I really like the majority of Morgan & Wong's ideas to explore the Millenium Group and Peter Watts but in general, the whole thing needed a better execution.

And I still hope that S3 gives me an explanation of what the hell happened to Peter.

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Apparently Carter hated S2 so much, that he didn't even bother to watch all episodes. The plot development with Cheryl Andrews in Skull & Bones was absolutely idiotic and is just one of the many things that didn't work about S3.


Is man just a blunder of God, or is God just a blunder of man?
Nietzsche

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Very unfortunate Carter couldn't come up with a better, half way intelligent way to completely change the show's story. Season 3 premiere 2 parter is one of the most mind boggling dumb and nonsensical eps in telvision history. If he hated what came before so much, you think he woulda tried harder to turn things around in a highly positive way. Guess he achieved that at last towards the end of season 3, but the early part o that season OUCH.

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I recently watched the Skull and Bones Episode, and it sort of followed the end of The Hand of St. Sebastian in th e following areas:
- Cheryl Andrews was in Germany, however she was their to recover the Hand of
Saint Sebastian for a faction of the Millenium group
- She willing to kill Frank and Peter with the help of an other faction to get
it.
- After her arrest in Germany, it kind of follows the basic premise in that
upon her arrest, she would be officially deported.

After watching Skull and Bones, I am unclear in the following areas:
- How come Frank considers her a friend, she almost tried to kill him.
- Why was Peter working with Cheryl after the events of The Hand of Saint
Sebastian? She tried to kill him, I am sure there is more than one Forensic
Expert in the Millenium group.
- Did he have her do an autopsy to set her up so her can have her eliminated
as a result of the events that occurred in Germany.
- Why would Cheryl work with Peter? She is aligned with a different sect
within the group who tried to have Peter and Frank killed.

I think Chris Carter took the very end of the St. Sabastian episode and tied it into this episode to end the Cheryl Andrews Character. I also think their is some inconsistance between Season 2 and Season 3:
- Who is the mysterious guy that always accompanies Peter? He was introduced
in previous seasons.
- Are the Owls and Rosters still relevant? This episode contradicts that if
Peter was working with Cheryl.
- Why was the HAARP aspect not hinted at earlier.
- What happened to Peter Watts at the end of Season 2 has never been fully
explained or explored.
- What happened to Frank's Brother in season one?
I think Chris Carter tried to fit Millenium into the X-Files framework, leaving out key aspects created by the previous seasons in order to revamp the show, I think the constant revolving door of directors and producers caused a rift in the series where established precidents that were made in previous season were left out in favor of new ideas, which a majority of which did not work, leaving the show feeling like a different show or a different take on the X-Files.

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The absurd intentional inconsistencies and changes were a HORRID idea and a GRAT disservice to the show.

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I recently watched the Skull and Bones Episode, and it sort of followed the end of The Hand of St. Sebastian in th e following areas:
- Cheryl Andrews was in Germany, however she was their to recover the Hand of
Saint Sebastian for a faction of the Millenium group


If I recall correctly, Cheryl was actually betraying the entire Group and working for the Nazi-rooted Odessa, the militant rival group to Millennium we see later explored more in the two-part "Owls" and "Roosters".

After watching Skull and Bones, I am unclear in the following areas:
- How come Frank considers her a friend, she almost tried to kill him.


The idea I'm left at is in Frank's mind, he didn't believe Cheryl would've really tried to kill him or Peter, she was simply betraying them with a non-lethal intent for a better payment from Odessa.

- Why was Peter working with Cheryl after the events of The Hand of Saint
Sebastian? She tried to kill him, I am sure there is more than one Forensic
Expert in the Millenium group.


Again an idea I'm left with in comparing both eps, the Group got Cheryl off on her charges with the condition she never betray them again and when she was apparently ready to disobey them again (though for good reasons in this case) via "Skull and Bones" flashbacks, they had her killed.

- Why would Cheryl work with Peter? She is aligned with a different sect
within the group who tried to have Peter and Frank killed.


Probably as part of a deal to clear her of the charges she'd face for what she did in "The Hand of St. Sebastian", but again the assumption I'm left is she originally betrayed the Group for Odessa, not some other faction within,

- Who is the mysterious guy that always accompanies Peter? He was introduced in previous seasons.


I don't think he was introduced at any point prior to Season 3, but not much is ever really clarified on him and left open for us to determine for ourselves. He seems to be a 'person' of demonic origins whom the Millennium Group hired in, a supernatural being with powers similar to those of Lucy Butler, demonic attorney Al Pepper, and the four demons from "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me". I got a very subtle idea from the Season 3 ep with flashbacks to Frank as a child that he could be the third brother in Frank's family, maybe adopted by his father after his mother's passing, whom killed or nearly killed the kid taunting young Frank.

- Are the Owls and Rosters still relevant? This episode contradicts that if Peter was working with Cheryl.


They weren't having real problems just yet, not sure which faction Cheryl was part of before betraying the Group, but it was only in the two-part "Owls"/"Roosters" that they nearly went to war and that was because of Odessa. They apparently never have problems again until the Group eventually ceased operations after the series finale, leaving a final third faction in the aftermath to attempt what's seen in the X-Files' crossover.
- What happened to Peter Watts at the end of Season 2 has never been fully explained or explored.


It's never explained, the most we know is what Frank tells us in "The Sound of Snow", that Peter and his entire family were ensured survival by the Group during the viral outbreak and they subsequently had serious problems being social before seeing each other onscreen again in "Exegesis".

My thoughts of what happened, Peter did get into a fight when trying to get Lara Means and may have been shot, hence his weak sounding voice when getting out his one word to Frank, then got apprehended and moved to safety where he found his family unharmed and out of the virus' threat. He would've been so relieved by this that despite all that just happened, Peter would be totally convinced the Group's 'end justify the means' actions were for a greater good and ready to again try bringing Frank back to the Group. We know how much Peter loves his family and how much faith he had in the Group, faith like that can't be totally wiped away so quickly. That's the best I can come up with.

- What happened to Frank's Brother in season one?


While we never see him again in present times, Frank's brother is referenced in the Season 2 Christmas ep, mentioned by his father and in their mother's obituary. He would also be one of the brothers in the Season 3 ep where Frank flashbacks to his bad swimming incident. Already said what I think of that little hazy area above

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