Byers: [voiceover] "My name is John
Fitzgerald Byers. I was named after our 35th president, and I keep
having this beautiful dream. In my dream, the events of November
22nd, 1963, never happened. In it, my namesake was never
assassinated. Other things are different, too, in my dream. My
country is hopeful and innocent; young again. Young in spirit. My
fellow citizens trust their elected officials, never once having
been betrayed by them. My government is truly 'of the people, by the
people, for the people'. All my hopes for my country, for myself...
all are fulfilled. I have everything a person could want; home and
family... and love. Everything that counts for anything in life... I
have it. But the dream ends the same way every time. I lose it
all." [Byers is left standing alone in the desert holding a
wedding ring]

Intro
Mythology
Chris Carter says:
"Every show I do I seem to introduce a "myth arc." It kind of
comes about on its own.... Something I learned with HR is not to introduce it too
soon. Give people a chance to get to know the characters and setup.... before you get into the heavy stuff.
Lone
Gunmen
Episode 1 - Not Really A Pilot
...but
a story about a pilotless hijacking

Ashes
supposedly belonging to Byers' father are launched in an Estes rocket
at the
conclusion of his funeral as
his Company brethren look on
1AEB79 Pilot
Rating: 13 million
Air Date: March 4, 2001
Written By: Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz
Directed By: Rob Bowman

A
father-son reunion and chat about scenario 12-D
Byers is surprised by his father as he goes through
his house looking for clues to his disappearance. His father is less
than happy to be found, knowing that Overlord will use his son to find
him. Confronting his father with his suspicions that Scenario 12-D
is connected to his disappearance, Byers learns of an impending staged
terrorist action, the bombing of a domestic airliner.

An unscheduled stop at the
corner of Liberty and Washington...
Boarding the plane expecting to find a bomb,
they learn that the plane is the bomb, and is being flown by remote
control. Hacking into the plane's navigational computer, Langley and
Frohike learn its true destination.

Flying
by wireless - Byers' father breaks into the cockpit and turns off the
autopilot to convince the pilot that he is not in control of the
plane. Back in Tacoma Park Langly struggles to decrypt the control
signal but "my CPU's are pegged!"

Final
Approach - The plane is closing rapidly on the WTC North
Tower. The pilots struggle vainly to override the remote control
signal, while Langly struggles to decrypt it. Frohike has gone to
plead with Yves, who has the "Octium" chip stolen at the opening
of the episode. After he threatens to divulge her true identity (her
full name is an anagram of "Lee Harvey Oswald", though it is
never clear what this implies) she agrees to
patch in with her superchip and help them decrypt the signal. Somehow magically joining
forces with Langley in the few seconds remaining (Maryland must have
really good DSL connections) remote control is defeated in a predictable
but nicely-done CGI near miss.

Dénouement
- some final words of encouragement. Bert explains to his son why he
does not intend to go public with what he knows about Overlord, and why
they should both accept getting out alive as the best achievable outcome.