Mulder and Scully are called in the early hours of the morning by two members of an unidentified agency to view the bodies of two men. The cause of death is established as crushing of the throat without physical contact; both corpses also exhibit signs of being subjected to large amounts of static electricity. The mystery agents seem unwilling to answer questions and dismiss Mulder and Scully quickly. Mulder theorizes that the men could have been killed by psychokinesis; he also retains fingerprints from the corpses on his glasses in order to investigate further. The two men are determined to be members of a Middle East militant group called Isfahan, with a cell in Philadelphia. Mulder and Scully investigate the scene where the bodies were found, discovering a nearby ATM with a security camera. The footage reveals the two men attempting to abduct a woman named Lauren Kyte; Mulder notes an abnormality in the footage, which Scully speculates could be another person.
Mulder and Scully pay a visit to Lauren Kyte, who is hesitant to answer their questions regarding the Isfahan agents and the figure appearing in the footage. When they leave Lauren's house, their car begins to move under its own control, crashing into another vehicle. Mulder later notes that the headlights of the car have been charged by a large amount of electricity, drawing the connection to Lauren Kyte and speculating that she could be psychokinetic. Scully notes that Lauren's employer is a Defense Department contractor; she believes that the mystery man from the footage is an accomplice of Lauren's, responsible for killing the Isfahan agents and sabotaging their car. The agents continue to observe Lauren, learning of the recent suicide of her boss, Howard Graves. Mulder develops a photograph of Lauren's house, noticing a figure in the window, which, upon closer analysis, is revealed to be Graves; Scully considers this evidence that Graves faked his death. That night, Lauren has a vision, which reveals that Graves was killed by his partner, Dorlund.
Mulder and Scully look further into Graves' death, establishing that he could not have faked his death. The agents get a call from Lauren, who asks them to come to her house urgently; she is then attacked in her home by two people who attempt to kill her, but they are choked to death by an unseen force. Mulder and Scully attempt to question Lauren, but are interrupted by the two mystery agents, who reveal that they are investigating Lauren's employer for dealing with the Isfahan. Mulder speaks to Lauren again, asking if Graves is watching over her from beyond the grave. This prompts Lauren to reveal that Dorlund made the deal with Isfahan, and that he killed Graves and attempted to kill her. The FBI conducts a raid on Dorlund's office, but find nothing incriminating; Lauren confronts Dorlund, who attacks her with a letter opener; Graves' spirit manifests in the office, throwing the letter opener into the wall, where it reveals a hidden disk containing evidence implicating Dorlund. Lauren departs from Philadelphia, with Graves' spirit still watching over her, while Mulder and Scully contemplate the existence of the afterlife.
"Shadows" is the first X-Files episode to feature a secondary protagonist in the form of Lauren Kyte, using her perspective in parallel to Mulder and Scully's. On the whole, the episode unfolds like a typical police procedural, feeling more like a supernatural-themed Law & Order than a typical episode of The X-Files. In terms of character development, little is gained, apart from some conflict between Mulder and Scully over the value of exposing the paranormal versus solving the case at hand.
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