1×09 – FALLEN ANGEL
by foxestacado
Recap by Supposebly
Townsend, Wisconsin, 12.51 A.M Day 1
Flashing fire behind trees, either an explosion or, as we will learn later, (spoiler!) a downed aircraft.
A police car is driving up and Deputy Wright radios in the fire. “Suggest we dispatch fire crew. Over.”
That seems like a rather relaxed way of reporting a fire in the woods. But then, the woods in British Columbia, Pardon! Wisconsin are fairly rainy in the fall, so maybe he doesn’t expect the fire to spread very far. Still, there have been a lot of serious fires in B.C., Pardon! Wisconsin lately so you might put more urgency into your report, deputy!
The answer is distorted, which somehow prompts him to exit his car to check out this fire. Now, I get that he might want to see if someone is injured and I understand he doesn’t know that this is a Spoiler! downed aircraft but either you run there and find survivors or get into your car and race back to alarm the fire department as soon as you get better reception! He just seems strangely unconcerned, is all I’m saying.
We cut to huge satellite dishes and then to the weirdly dark (well, weird unless you live in the season 1-5 X-files universe) U.S. Space Surveillance center in or on Cheyenne Mountain Colorado. Wikipedia tells me there is a Cheyenne County and a Cheyenne Wells in Colorado, so I am assuming Cheyenne Mountain is not far off.
A military underling walks up to his superior to report an unidentified bogey. Merriam Webster is my friend so I find out that ‘bogey’ means “a numerical standard of performance set up as a mark to be aimed at especially in competition” or “an unidentified aircraft; especially one not positively identified as friendly and so assumed to be hostile”. Given this show, I assume we mean the latter. Or at least I would hope so. On the other hand, that makes the underling’s line redundant.
The superior who is in uniform gets up and puts his cap on. Now all I know about uniforms and the military comes from TV so I might be off base here (see what I did here, do you?!) but that seems an odd move when he just walks over to a screen to watch “the replay.”
I might as well introduce him now; his name is Colonel Calvin Henderson. And yes, everything about him screams at me to add his title to his name. He leans over a screen and we get a close-up of some green grid on a black screen where some blob is moving around. A female officer tells us about the initial trajectory and that it then started going crazy. Colonel Henderson asks whether other aircraft are in the area, to which the female officer replies that no known aircraft can manoeuvre like this. What, like going crazy and then going down? The things you learn. Female officer Karen Koretz is played by Kimberly Unger who also apparently played the black-oiled Joan Gauthier in Piper Maru.
Male underling points out that whatever it was, hit ground west of Townsend. Koretz notes that impact was calculated at 800 miles per hour. I have no idea what that means. Does that mean it didn’t just fall down but aimed for the ground? Wouldn’t that make the title wrong? Just being my nitpicky self over there in the corner. Don’t mind me.
Colonel Henderson tells his underlings that they tracked a meteor which prompts Koretz to whine “but sir!”. I like her. She likes to stay with the facts, too. He orders her to report these “facts”. Male underling yessirs which prompts me not to try to find out what his name is. Koretz gives male underling a scolding look.
We cut to Henderson on the phone starting his conversation with Golf, indigo, Delta Echo niner. I looked up the military alphabet code and there is no indigo. Oh well, I’m just miffed that nobody ever starts calls with me like that. He then says: “I have a confirmed fallen angel in sector 87. Mobilize operation Falcon immediately.” Dun!
And we cut back to Deputy Wright who is walking towards the fire. When we cut to his POV, I think we’ve seen that shot of the fire before. There is a quick cut to Alien POV which moves very fast towards Deputy Wright with a screeching sound effect. The cut is so fast that it does seem somewhat threatening. Deputy Wright does notice something although I’m not sure what. The sound effect maybe? We get the obligatory close-up of the designated victim and he shines his flashlight into the woods, hesitantly calling out “hello?” He doesn’t get an answer and for some reason looks down. That’s when we get Alien POV again, moving very fast towards the deputy. He starts making faces while being bathed in a very harsh light, similar to the light we saw in the pilot when Mulder and Scully’s car broke down and they lost 9 minutes. I guess, for season 1, that counts as continuity. The deputy might be screaming but we don’t hear anything. We cut to his abandoned car to drive home the fact that the car is now all alone in the woods and in the world and cut to the credits.
We see a nice motel with the card: Budget-Rest Motel, Townsend Wisconsin, 12:57 a.m. Day 1. Wow. This is 6 minutes after the fire started. We hear the newscast on the fire already. Really fast reporters in Townsend, Wisconsin. And even faster evacuation procedures. On the other hand, when we cut to the TV screen to watch the cars slowly moving out of Townsend, it’s daylight. Do I need to point out the further disturbances in the time-space continuum here? I didn’t think so.
A Channel 5 news reporter tells us that a toxic spill in Townsend is the reason for the evacuation. We cut to Mulder’s hand turning down the volume to enable us to hear
echo-y flashback-Mulder’s voice. Artsy. Or not. You decide. I think I wouldn’t need to have the volume turned down in the present to hear a conversation of the past in my head. The following cuts back and forth between the conversation and present Mulder.
Flash-back Mulder: “Then what happened out there if it wasn’t a train wreck?”
Flashback echo-y Deep Throat: “Mulder, the continental United States are surrounded by an electronic fence which reaches 15,000 miles into space.“
And we cut to them standing outside in broad daylight. May I mention that Deep Throat is not answering Mulder’s question? Ok.
Flash-back Deep Throat: “We use it to track and monitor the 7,087 manmade objects that orbit the earth.”
That’s a fairly accurate number. Are we talking satellites, space garbage? And again, what does that have to do with anything? Is he trying to make Mulder paranoid? Has he met the guy?
“Last night at 23.17 that fence was breached.” Ah, we’re getting to the point now. Good. It takes that aircraft about an hour and 50 minutes to get to the ground from a height of 15,000 miles? I have no idea. If you like, work it out whether that makes sense. I never believed in Physics and Mulder told me in the pilot not to look for Physics anyway on this show. The echo-y sound is also not justified since they are standing outside. Maybe Mulder’s recollections have some reverb effect. Hollow skull? I’m sorry. I’ll get back to the task at hand now. We cut back to a close-up of Mulder lighting up his hand to check his flashlight. That doesn’t sound right but I don’t know why.
Deep Throat: “This morning at 01.00, operation Falcon went into effect…..”
Cut back to Mulder’s supposedly determined face but all I see is Duchovny looking sleepy.
“….led by Colonel Calvin Henderson, the air force’s reclamations expert.”
Mulder: “Reclamations?”
Deep Throat: “During the Cold War, his job was to prevent technologies from downed U.S. aircraft from getting into Soviet hands.”
So, I guess he’s out of a job now since the Cold War is over? Heh. No wonder he is so hell-bent on getting this aircraft. He’s been bored ever since the Cold War ended.
Flashback Mulder: “He’s part of a crash retrieval unit.”
Deep Throat: “Quick Response. I’d say you have about 24 hours until the area is sanitized. After that, it’ll be like nothing ever happened.”
Cut to Mulder running through the woods. It looks like dawn, so from about 1 am at the motel, it took him quite some time to get close to the crash site. Couldn’t he have driven there? Come to think of it, that’s probably not possible, with the evacuation going on. On the other hand, how did he get to the motel which is in Townsend? Oh well. Recapping these things makes mistakes even more glaring and numerous. How come this seems so difficult on TV? Alex Gansa and Howard Gordoin wrote this; the former was writing for Beauty and the Beast which I’ve never seen, and Howard Gordon is, I think, best known for X-files and 24. Insert your own traffic jam, bathroom, and continuity jokes here.
Mulder comes up to a laser grid in the middle of the woods which looks just like a quadrangle. From where I’m sitting, he could just walk around it. I’m not sure what this is supposed to do other than giving us a way to see Alien walk through it. Oh well, better a bad reason than no reason. We look upon some military guys, jeeps, trucks, a roadblock on a path which is apparently Mulder’s POV from the woods. They’re blocking their own military personnel. Nobody else is there. Well, except Mulder and he cannot be deterred!
We cut to operation Falcon headquarters, a truck enters and some other underling meets Henderson. He reprimands the underling that they’re late and that it is going to be dark in half an hour. Ok, so either I was mistaken and it was dusk when we saw Mulder last time, which makes him even slower than I thought, or I was right and he just spent a whole day Spoiler! underneath that truck. Sigh.
Other underling reports that they had a flat outside the perimeter. Aah, that’s where the perimeter problems on 24 originate. If you don’t know what I mean, read M. Giant’s 24 recaps. Every time the perimeter is being secured, someone gets through. Henderson: “There is a general briefing at 22.00 hours.” Ok, it’s not dark yet, they’re running late for whatever they’re doing (not that that aircraft is going anywhere) and they’re just gonna hang until the meeting? Recall, it’s not even dark yet. How did Gordon get to produce a show like 24 again?
To underline the seriousness of the situation Henderson ordered live rounds. Yes, survivors are very likely at this point, whenever this point is, so live rounds it is! Henderson must have been bored out of his mind. Other underling obviously seems to think this is a little excessive, since he’s been told that this was just a drill. He is obviously too scared of Henderson to say anything more. Well, Henderson is scary, so I don’t blame him. The soldiers were told this is a drill? Why would they do that? Because it’s them ways. I guess. Not because this is a retrieval unit and they need practice retrieving. Whatever. If I keep going like this, I might regret recapping one of my favourite episodes. Where is Scully?!
Other underling yells at soldiers to get out of the truck and we see Mulder crawling out from under the truck. I think I’ve made my problems with this clear already. Maybe being under the truck was like being in another time-space continuum.
It’s dark now. We are in the woods again and there is a bright light as is wont on the X-files. We follow some soldiers patrolling. I wonder if they have received their live rounds yet? Mulder scampers towards the light and we hear more soldiers muttering while Mulder obviously doesn’t. We see Mulder’s aaawww face as we cut to some overexposed area with guys in white hazmat suits blowing around the crash site with, I think some sort of fire extinguishers. It’s actually kinda cool looking, Of course, you can see the budget restraints but it’s not bad and somewhat endearing. Mulder whips out his huge camera (didn’t everybody wish he had a camera in Antarctica with him?) and starts clicking away all the while thinking, I wonder what Scully will say. The loud clicking alerts the soldiers and one of them hits Mulder on the head with his rifle butt. The camera keeps clicking.
Fade to a close-up of a ceiling lamp and someone’s hands exposing the film to the light. We pan towards Henderson who points out to Mulder that he’s just made the worst mistake of his life. Oh, I don’t know, Diana Fowley or Phoebe Green might be contenders for that position. But then, it’s a stiff competition when it comes to mistakes in Mulder’s life. Getting abducted was pretty stupid too. Ok, I’ll stop here, otherwise we’re here for another 9 years. Oh, wait.
Mulder tries to get Henderson to admit that this isn’t an ecological disaster but a downed UFO. To no avail. I like Henderson, he’s really scary. His veiled threats to shoot Mulder if he doesn’t shut up and forgets what he thinks he saw are a thing of beauty.
Fade to another bright light and then we see Mulder being thrown into some sort of cage. He sits down, and we hear a voice asking him from off-camera:
“Are you Mufon or Cufos?”
And there we have our other guest star: May I introduce to you Max Fenig. Long hair, baseball hat on backwards, round dork glasses.
“Do you mind if I sit down?” Heh. They are in separate cages, so this is sufficiently weird but adorable.
“Let me guess, you’re with that new group. CSICOP, right?
Mulder isn’t impressed and doesn’t answer. Mulder, get off your rude high horse. The only difference between you and Max is you have an FBI badge and that is a precarious difference at the best of times. Max is a bit more understanding of Mulder’s attitude problems after what happened to JFK, thinking he’s just cautious, uttering the “trust no one” mantra. Hm. I’ve checked the scripts and this is the first time the phrase came up. I wonder if Mulder made it his password in memory of Max? Or Deep Throat?
Max introduces himself as a member of NICAP. Mulder’s indifference makes Max blabbering nervously. Shut up, Mulder. He asks Mulder if he could ask something.
This is the first time Mulder actually slides a bit down from his high horse and answers: “Go ahead.” Max takes this opportunity to ask if he saw anything, and to point out, loudly that he didn’t see anything. He has this cute apologizing chuckle that tells you that he is somewhat embarrassed that he didn’t see anything. It also tells you he is embarrassed that he is using this opportunity to make sure there is no reason to charge him with more than trespassing. He does however get serious when he points out to Mulder that it’s like the Roswell cover-up all over again. Mulder, sliding a little further down his high horse: “What makes you so sure that there’s something out there?” Max: “Same thing that makes you so sure?” Or in my words: “Why the hell else would you be here?”
And now we cut to the morning sunlight. We pan from Max’s empty bed to sleeping Mulder. The door opens and lets in the blinding sunlight and Scully. Hands on her hips.
Mulder: “I didn’t order room service.” Scully: “This isn’t funny.” Mulder evades her by looking for Max, who Scully couldn’t care less about. Maybe Mulder came all the way down from his high horse during the night since he refers to Max as “another intrepid soul in search of a close encounter.” Heh. How accurate.
Scully is pissed. Section Chief McGrath ordered an inquiry to shut down the X-files and to fire Mulder. Nothing new to Mulder but Scully doesn’t think that’s what Mulder really wants. Recall, the only difference between Mulder and Max is the badge. And I don’t think Mulder wants to give that up. The little sign that he might not just be a freak.
Scully has news for Mulder: Apparently, she has been told that it was a downed Libyan jet with a nuclear warhead. Mulder thinks that info hilarious. After all, he saw it. Actually, I did too, and I couldn’t tell what it was. A wreckage. Very well lit but I wouldn’t know a Libyan jet from a UFO. And I’m not sure Mulder would either at this point in the show. Scully’s reason for believing this story is that it is highly classified. Hm, so if it’s secret, it must be true? This early in the show, it’s always been more fun to stick with Scully’s POV. However, her reasoning is terrible here. Oh Scully! They’re apparently still searching for the pilot, prompting Mulder to note that no human pilot walked away from the wreckage. Scully speculates that he might have ejected, which is as good a theory as any at this point.
Cut to the laser grid in the woods; it is daylight and we see some strange visual effects, similar to when the air is in shimmering in the heat. Cut to Alien POV, which looks out to a road where a truck drives past us. Once the truck is gone, the invisible alien races across the road. I’m thinking this was a superfluous scene. We already know it’s barely visible, it kills people, and it’s fast, no need for us to look at bad special effects.
We cut to a motel parking lot with Max’s silver RV, and Scully and Mulder arguing about whether to stay in Townsend and investigate further or to haul ass back to Washington D.C. so as not to be late for the hearing. May I point out that I’m sure that the motel is not the same as the one from the beginning.
When they enter the room, the phone is off the hook, and the room is trashed. They hear a noise and this might be the first time in the show when Mulder has no gun and Scully goes for hers. Aaand a tradition is born. Heh. Although she looks very professional, when she points the gun at the bathroom door, there is a lot of heavy breathing. Come on, Scully, it’s just a door! But then, she’s been a field agent only for nine episodes and she’s never had to deal with an intruder. On the other hand, she seemed a lot more assured in “Deep Throat”. Mulder opens the door and Scully points her gun at Max Fenig’s ass hanging in the bathroom window. Mulder pulls him back to realize whose ass it is.
Max tries to explain that he wanted to know if it was really Mulder. How did he know where Mulder stayed? Did they exchange that much info during the night? Without Mulder mentioning his name? Or did he?
The scene is wonderful simply because we get to watch Scully slowly realizing that Mulder doesn’t just have a somewhat tarnished reputation at the FBI but is also somewhat a celebrity in UFO nut circles. And Mulder is even somewhat embarrassed about it. Obviously Mulder, it’s just a badge, you’re not that different. Max is then uttering the endearing line: “This must be the enigmatic Agent Scully.” Well, she is new in the travel records, so obviously those nuts are curious about this new female partner.
He beckons them to his RV, skipping out the door. Heh. I love Max. In entering the RV, the reaction shots are hilarious. Mulder is amused but doesn’t seem to find this terribly strange. Obviously, he has seen this kind of décor before. Scully is amused but curious. She wanders around taking in the books on aliens, the décor, etc. until she spots Max’s medication. Max and Mulder are already deep in discussion.
Max dorks out on his audio equipment for search and intercept and Scully endears herself to geeks everywhere and Max especially when she knows all about the manufacturer and other specs. Max recorded Deputy Wright’s call the night of the fire, which, according to Max, was now 2 nights ago. So, I’m thinking, Mulder’s day 1, was actually day (night) 2. So, he started out from the motel 24 hours after the aircraft went down and he spent the next night running towards the wreckage and in custody. Again, not making sense, since again, there is this whole day where he was either under the truck or in the woods. We are missing not only 9 minutes but at least half a day! Curious indeed. Or not. I’ll stop now. I hope this doesn’t come up again.
35 minutes later, we hear the fire crew, it’s not clear whether they are being attacked or just freaked out because they found the deputy’s body. Apparently, Deputy Wright’s call went through and they found his body. So, the fire crew has seen the wreckage, too? Did Henderson have them killed too? I wouldn’t put it past him. Speaking of, we cut to Henderson on the phone assuring whoever, that it will not get away. Well, I believe him.
We cut then to the Mill Road High School Emergency Evacuation Center at 6:27 pm on Day 2. Oh God, why are they doing this to me? I think I’ll pass. There are other axes to grind. For example: If people are being evacuated, wouldn’t they have left town? Well, unless we need Deputy Wright’s wife to be questioned by our intrepid agents. Mrs Wright looks a little freaked and angry. They have obviously gotten to her and have threatened her with withholding the deputy’s pension if she doesn’t keep quiet. Also, they won’t release his body to her. What does she know anyway? What possible reason would there be to threaten her? God, Henderson is on a roll! How long has it been since the Cold War?
Scully still thinks that the government can’t do such a thing. Oh Scully! Suddenly the lights go out. We will never find out why. We then cut to the U.S. Microwave Substation B21 and hear Alien screech which hurts Henderson’s poor ears causing him to rip off his headphones with a grimace. Some soldier reports picking up an extreme high frequency signal. No kidding. Some other soldier makes out Alien as a red blob moving among green and blue blobs. I assume this is some heat registering camera? I don’t know. Henderson orders the Beta team to search and destroy it since it’s heading towards them. Other underling from earlier who thought he’d be in a drill is member of the Beta team. He’s cute, I don’t want him to die. They can’t see anything. Well, duh, haven’t they realized that the only way they could see it was with that heat camera thing? Oh, they’re toast. Alien POV: Wandering past the cute underling. Pfft. I am relieved. Alien is racing towards the other two guys. Toast.
We cut to County Hospital, Townsend, Wisconsin 11:42 p.m. This is Scully and Mulder arriving that the hospital five hours after they talked to the deputy’s wife. Just sayin’. They are nagging Dr Oppenheim who is very reluctant to talk to anybody. He will be back in many other X-files episodes. Mulder speculates that someone threatened the good doctor. Somewhat unexpectedly, the doctor mumbles: “I hate fascists.” Mulder thinks that that was addressed to him until the good doctor clarifies that people pushed everybody around. Hmm, who do you think that was?
Mulder gets through to him and Dr Oppenheim admits that he saw the deputy and three members of the fire crew with fifth and sixth degree burns over 90% of their bodies. Charcoal instead of toast. Sorry, my bad.
Scully asks about cadaver heat rigor or heat stiffening which prompts Dr Oppenheim’s amazement at her knowledge. Seriously, Dr Oppenheim, years of CSI and the season two episode of X-files “Sleepless” and I could have asked that question. Actually, I wouldn’t ask that question assuming that that is what happens when someone burns to a crisp and hasn’t fallen apart yet. But then, this is 1993. Mulder asks whether it could be radiation which Oppenheim thinks is possible.
This leads our agents to walk down a hospital hallway discussing the possibility of radiation poisoning. Scully argues for her Libyan nuclear warhead theory since the burns might be similar to what had been reported in Hiroshima. Mulder shoots that down arguing that the same injuries have been reported in Close Encounter reports. You know, my dear special agents, neither of you have actually seen the burns. So, both of you shouldn’t jump to any conclusions. At least Scully points out that she doesn’t claim to know what the answer is but urges Mulder that they need to get to the OPR in the morning, otherwise there may not be any more X-files. Again, Mulder, maybe a badge is just a badge.
That’s when we see burned soldiers wheeled in closely followed by Colonel Henderson steely-eyed and scary. And Mulder’s expression looks, I don’t know, attracted? Oh, Duchovny!
In the ER, Mulder is nagging Henderson, who keeps checking on his men. Nice scene actually. Despite Henderson being a scary badass who is obviously the bad guy, he does care for his men. Scully is being talked into helping by Dr Oppenheim so Henderson can’t throw her out of the ER but he has no trouble kicking Mulder out. Oppenheim on the other hand is growing some balls, and kicks Henderson out. Heh.
Daylight. Sigh. Even if all this posturing lasted 2 hours, it took Mulder at least 4 hours to get back to Max’s RV, at which door he is just now pounding, but getting no answer. Max doesn’t lock his door, so Mulder goes in and finds Max convulsing on the floor. Mulder holds him until the convulsions stop. Max doesn’t remember his seizure, and claims, he hasn’t had one since he was a kid and got medication for epilepsy. According to Max, it started in South Dakota when he was ten. The doctors thought it must have been because of a head injury although Max claims he doesn’t remember ever hitting his head. Mulder jumps right to the issue of Max not having a memory of his seizures. Max mentions that he used to wake up in strange places with no idea where he was and how he got there. Dun! Max gets tired all of a sudden and Mulder helps him to lie down. That’s when he notices a triangular scar behind Max’s right ear. Double Dun!
I like that is seems that Mulder is not only interested in someone because of his “quest”, but also actually cares for the person. It’s a beautiful scene. It’s probably also because Max hits very close to home. Cut to Mulder in his motel room, glasses on. Hi Mulder’s glasses! He’s also changed into a red shirt. I’m not sure about that. He apparently brought his inkjet and to print pictures and reports. He’s staring intently at reports and pictures of scars behind ears; note the report mentions the left ear, not the right. It’s either important or a continuity error, you decide.
Scully opens the door, looking beat. She tells Mulder that they lost all but two while opening the empty fridge, and closing it again. Nice. She must be starving, so an automatic reflex would be to go to the fridge. I love it. She’s tired and she would like to investigate but they have the hearing to go to.
He explains about the incision/scar and shows her pictures of abductees with the same incision. She argues that Max is taking powerful antipsychotic drugs and it’s likely that Max is delusional. Mulder counters with the argument that it isn’t Max who claims he is an abductee, Mulder is. What are you saying Mulder? Where are your drugs? Again, it’s just a badge. Scully takes a moment to contemplate this and then agrees to have a look at Max, also imploring Mulder to go get packing.
We cut to officer Koretz reporting flash traffic at the same exact spot. She is reading a much larger craft this time. Male underling who I didn’t give a name pointedly says: “meteor” Ms Koretz. She makes this hilarious sure, fine, whatever face and repeats: “A much larger meteor.” beat. “Sir.” That’s when she gets confirmation from Withmore air force base. Underling with no name asks where it is and she replies: “Well, sir, the meteor seems to be hovering over a small town in eastern Wisconsin” while barely suppressing a giggle.” You and me both, dear.
We get another Alien POV which tracks through the air towards Max’s RV, hovers and then seems to get inside. We hover over Max and then his ear starts to bleed, he wakes up, there is a bright light, and then nothing.
Cut to Mulder and Scull on the parking lot, entering the RV but obviously not finding Max. Alien has apparently turned on the audio tracker. Scully notices the blood on the bed and they listen to the radio and hear “patrol report unidentified trespass at the waterfront. This is Henderson. Move on target.” They stare at each other.
Mulder wants to go there while Scully tries to get him into the car to go to the airport. I don’t understand how Mulder thinks this has anything to do with Max. He thinks it’s more than a coincidence that Max was in Townsend the night of the crash. I’m still not sure what Mulder is getting at. That the UFO crashed while attempting to abduct Max? A botched abduction? Well, it’s good to know that even aliens make mistakes when kidnapping, I’m sorry, abducting people. Mulder thinks Henderson knows that too, which, again, I don’t know about. Henderson knows nothing about Max as an abductee as far as we know. Or does he?
We cut to Lake Michigan Waterfront Dock 7 and watch Max walking towards us holding his right ear. He seems disoriented and in pain. A jeep with 2 soldiers drives up to him. He implores them to stay away. Henderson thinks Max is dangerous, so maybe there is something to what Mulder was saying earlier or it’s just Henderson being his Henderson self. We see another car driving up to the jeep and it’s Mulder and Scully, for once being quick at a scene. The 2 solders are lying on the ground, and I’m sorry but I can’t watch this scene without thinking of the gag reel where Gillian Anderson says instead of “they’re dead”, “they’re done.” Toast, I’m telling you.
We hear Max screaming from inside a warehouse and our agents run towards it. They find him slouched against a barrel muttering “it hurts, stop it.” It’s terrible to watch. Scully runs out to hold Henderson off. Good luck with that one. The soldiers stick explosives to the door. Hm. Scully just walked out that door. Why would they need to explode that door? Henderson needs more action again, no doubt. A guy on the roof reports three blobs on his heat seeker camera. Obviously, Alien has left Max’s body.
Mulder is still with Max, trying to reassure him. Max can somehow see or sense Alien coming towards them and screams while Alien catapults Mulder away. Mulder gets up (with his gun in his hand; where did that gun come from?) and finds Max just hanging in the air surrounded by some bright light. Which becomes very bright and then the heat seeker camera only finds one blob. Henderson orders to blow up the door.
We cut to Mulder picking up Max’s hat. Henderson asks him where he is and Mulder yells that he’s gone, that they got to him first. Henderson awesomely: “Arrest him. Keep looking!” You’ll never make that hearing now, Mulder.
Apparently, they postponed. We cut to a close-up of Section Chief McGrath and the Office of Responsibility Hearing. 10:17 a.m. Day 4. Mulder is lucky to have Skinner later, otherwise, there would have been a hearing like this every time Mulder runs off to investigate something. That would end every episode like this.
Scully sits at the other end of a very long table. She looks very alone at the table in front of an empty wall with an ashtray in front of her. She tries to argue that Mulder requires special criteria, but gets shot down and is dismissed. She wears a nice suit, but I hate her shoes. Mulder actually has crutches from his somersault in the warehouse. She gives him an envelope and wishes him good luck.
She picks up a newspaper that reports that the toxic cleanup in Townsend was a success and she looks pensive and curls her lips ever so slightly in sarcasm. I sense the beginning of the loss of innocence for our young agent.
Mulder is being annoyed that he is asked about issues of protocol while over a dozen men lost their lives. McGrath adds the charges of violating federal quarantine (oh, he must have been so happy to hear about those!). They start a yelling match that Mulder wins.
McGrath reports that Henderson found Fenig’s body 2 hours later in a cargo container. I have no idea whether that disproves anything Mulder or McGrath says. Apart from the fact that we all know that Max didn’t die that day how would that make Mulder back off?
Mulder gets up and is being very broken hearted but again I’m smiling. I’m outing myself here as one who never thought Duchovny is a very engaging actor and that goes beyond the infamous hypnosis scene and the hand/sheet-chewing scene. He’s very young here so that might add to the giggling but Gillian Anderson never makes me giggle when she has a heartfelt scene.
Outside, McGrath is purposefully walking towards Deep Throat, who apparently countermanded McGrath’s decision. McGrath is very upset about this. Deep Throat just quotes the Godfather: “Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer.” And who can argue with Marlon Bando. Deep Throat knows the difference a badge can make.
Recap by Supposebly