"Revelations" is the eleventh episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 15, 1995. It was written by Kim Newton and directed by David Nutter. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Revelations" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10, being watched by 15.25 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to positive reviews. The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate a case where fake stigmatics are being murdered. When a boy shows signs of being a real stigmatic, Mulder and Scully attempt to protect him, fearing that he will be the latest victim. "Revelations" became a minor storyline milestone for the series with the exploration of Scully's faith as a Roman Catholic. Throughout the remainder of the series, her Catholic faith served as a cornerstone, although at times a contradiction to her otherwise rigid skepticism of the paranormal. Furthermore, while Mulder is usually the believer and Scully is usually the skeptic, "Revelations" features a role reversal with Scully becoming the believer and Mulder becoming the skeptic, a move that Duchovny called "a refreshing change of pace." Plot A minister named Reverend Patrick Findley (R. Lee Ermey) in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania fakes stigmatic injuries to his hands during a sermon. Afterwards, Reverend Findley is visited by a white-haired man named Simon Gates, who strangles him—his hands smoking while he does so. Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the case. Mulder says that the minister was the eleventh fake stigmatic who has been killed over the past three years in a series of international murders. Meanwhile, at an elementary school in Loveland, Ohio, a boy, Kevin Kryder starts bleeding from the palms of his hands. The agents arrive and meet with a social worker, who claims that Kevin has suffered injuries before and that his father was institutionalized, adding that Kevin was in danger from evil forces. The agents visit Kevin's father, who claims that his son is the chosen one and that evil forces will come to kill him as part