Sfdebris.net

I've never seen this episode, so my question is: was it ever explained how the leg got past security? Isn't mail checked for contraband? Having a, presumably, raw pig's leg sent to a inmate can't be normal or allowed.

Even in our world prison security is easily bribed around. I think we just have to take it on trust that in the X-FIles verse whoever was involved in *this* conspiracy slipped whoever was supposed to screen stuff a few bucks to make the delivery. Possibly as a patsy if things did go public. Can't blame them if the postal system screws up and the prison guard is to corrupt/lazy to screen it out like they ought to have. Plausible deniability.

It did seem kinda silly, if you wanted to do research why not do it in a lab where you can study the effects more closely? Why go to a prison, why not pick up some bum off the street and expose him?

Personally, it would be kind of funny if Mulder confronts the cigarette man and demands to know why he and Scully were called into this. The cigarette man tries to shrug it off and be all mysterious but in the end is forced to confess "You see, Mr. Mulder, we're just as human as the next person" the idea being that it was honestly sent to the prison by mistake, they never intended to expose any of the inmates to the virus but someone screwed up and now they need Mulder to clean up their mess.