2×06 – ASCENSION
by foxestacado
Written by Paul Brown
Directed by Michael Lange
Original airdate: October 21, 1994
Recap by RhymePhile
Rather than starting this off with the teaser, I thought I’d go back to my taped episodes of The X-Files to bring you the “Previously On” installment. For some reason they chose not to put these tidbits on the DVDs, which I think is a definite drawback. And unfortunately, unless you were an old-school fan like me and have every single episode in their original, first-run (not syndicated, because they are cut for commercials) version over nine seasons on tape (okay, I may have skipped a lot during Seasons 8 and 9, but I got all the Duchovny ones), you miss out on good stuff like this.
But first I’ll bring you the FOX promo: Right from commercial we see a warped camera view of Scully and Mulder from the first-season episode “Red Museum.”
Scully: “There’s something up there, Mulder.”
Mulder: “Ooh, I’ve been saying that for *years*.”
Announcer: “FOX!”
The voiceover announcer says “Previously on The X-Files” (this will change in later seasons as Chris Carter becomes the guy who says “previously on”)
Then we see shots of the UFO hovering over Duane Barry’s house; Duane screams as the Grays surround his bed; Mulder explains in voiceover that Duane was “former FBI, who also claims to be an alien abductee”; shots of Scully on the phone with Mulder; Duane on the large platform before he’s experimented on as the drill comes toward him; Duane tells Mulder “the government knows about it…”; Duane’s teeth bring drilled; Mulder, tied up in the chair, looking at Duane; Duane continuing, “…they wouldn’t dare let the truth out”; a bright light blinds the hostage negotiation team; Scully on the headset with Mulder: “…listen to me, he is *not* what you think he is”; Duane holding a gun on Mulder; and the last shot is of Scully holding the phone on her shoulder, mid-call to Mulder, and she walks over to the window, opening the blinds to see Duane staring at her. She inhales sharply, obviously scared.
Teaser
Washington, D.C. 11:23 p.m. Huh, I wonder why it isn’t the usual 11:21 or 10:13 p.m. Throwing us a curve ball already! It’s raining fairly hard, and in the foreground a guy walks by in a yellow rain jacket. In the background is what looks like a row house, with the lights on, illuminating the first floor. You can actually see into the window. There’s a chandelier hanging from the ceiling in one of the rooms on the first floor.
Interestingly enough, we cut to a painting of a similar-looking row house, which is hanging on Mulder’s apartment wall right over his couch. Now, are we to assume that the establishing shot was supposed to be where Mulder lives? It only showed the first two floors, as the rest is obscured, but later on we’ll get to see Hegal Place looking very different from the one here.
Anyway, Mulder walks into his apartment, which is only lit by the flashing lightning. He takes off his coat and tosses it on the couch, and goes right to his answering machine. If you pause the DVD right when the lightning flashes, you can see the things on his desk: two wooden pins on the windowsill which look like those pins jugglers use; a swivel lamp; a small globe; a couple of books; a small wooden box with a clasp you would most likely keep jewelry in; three small round boxes you also might keep jewelry in; papers and such; and a black videocassette box, the kind they give you when you rent from a video store — or a porno palace, as the case may be with Mulder. He rewinds the answering machine tape, and then sits in a leather chair next to his desk, and steeples his fingers over the bridge of his nose. Man, Mulder’s answering machine looks like it was made in the ’70s. It amazing how far technology has come. He starts to listen as we hear Scully’s message that she left in the previous episode.
We get to see his face as he listens, interested in what Scully is saying about the metallic object pulled out of Duane. He looks tired, sad, depressed, lonely, and at the verge of tears, all at the same time. And he’s got the pouty-lip thing going. He really knows how to bring the sexy. It makes me wanna give him a hug, among other things. God, I’m not even 2 minutes into the teaser! Whew. Anyway, then we hear the window break in Scully’s message, she does that frightened gasp, and Mulder’s eyes go wide, and he visibly swallows. It’s really nice work by DD.
Next we see Mulder driving up to Scully’s place, which is surrounded by police. Mulder’s license plate reads 6N5-280. Hee, I’m being anal. He screeches up to the scene and flashes his badge at a cop, and proceeds to walk up to the stoop of 1419 (no street address yet). He glances to his right, and sees himself reflected in the broken panes of glass still hanging from Scully’s window. Then we pan down to see blood all over the windowsill.
Then the scene flashes white, and for years everyone has assumed that these scenes are those in which Mulder imagines what happened to Scully. I’ll stick to that. In Mulder’s imaginary scenario, Duane looks into the window and sees Scully. She kinda squeals, and Duane breaks the pane of glass with his fist, knocking Scully to the floor. Then Duane bats the blinds down — they look like bamboo or wood, which are damn expensive, Duane! — and enters Scully’s apartment. Then we go back to Mulder, who blinks.
Entering apartment 35, Mulder flashes his badge to gain admittance. Fans complained that perhaps Scully should have been on the third floor with that number, but my apartment is 222 and I’m on the ground floor, so that third-floor theory doesn’t hold up. Ooh, there’s a pretty stained glass window to Mulder’s left. I’m glad Duane wasn’t crazy enough to break that one. The apartment is really dark, but since you can make out a fridge within a few steps of the front door, it’s obvious this isn’t the apartment we will come to recognize as Scully’s down the road on the show.
A technician is taking shots of the crime scene with what looks like a giant camera made for underwater shooting. Techs dust for fingerprints and collect blood evidence. Mulder walks by that large wooden bureau that Krycek and Cardinale will later hide behind in their attempt to kill Scully. That piece of furniture, now that I think about it, remains in Scully’s apartment even into the show’s last season. Mulder notices some red strands of hair stuck to some blood on Scully’s glass end table, and that brings us into another MulderScenario: Scully crawling along the carpet and screaming for Mulder that she needs his help, while struggling to reach her holstered gun that’s sitting on the end table. It’s quite scary to watch, actually.
Next we see Scully’s crushed phone handset, which flashes into a MulderScenario of Duane’s foot coming down on it to smash it. He leaves the living room, bumping into a cop and steadying himself on the doorjamb, which has a bloody handprint on it. Good detective work there, Mulder! You’ve now compromised a crime scene with your clumsiness. Who made this guy an FBI agent? He walks through the archway to find Mrs. Scully yelling at the cops that she needs to get through. Mrs. Scully is played by the great Sheila Larken, who also happens to be married to XF co-executive producer and director R.W. Goodwin. See, I’m all about the trivia. Mulder goes to greet her with a hand to her shoulder, until he realizes that he has blood on his fingers. Great, Mulder, now Mrs. Scully looks even more terrified. He tells her that Scully isn’t in there, and Mrs. Scully wants to know where she is. Then we go to the opening credits. What’s strange is that it seems as though both Mulder and Mrs. Scully entered through a door that was directly off the kitchen, although we know that the front door is right next to that wooden bureau where Melissa entered to get shot by Cardinale. So Scully’s living room looks the same, but the entrance to it is different.
By 11:46 p.m. the place is swarming with cops and the media. Inside the apartment, Mrs. Scully is telling Mulder that she had a dream that Scully was going to be taken away. He puts his hand on her shoulder and leads her to the couch, and Mrs. Scully tells Mulder that she was going to call Dana to tell her about it, but that Dana would have laughed because she doesn’t believe about those sorts of things. Oh, just you wait Margaret; your little daughter will be believing all that and then some in a few years, like having a miracle alien baby son WHO WE STILL DON’T KNOW IS MULDER’S OR NOT!!!! Just sayin’.
Back at FBI headquarters the next day at 8:30 a.m., the Cigarette Smoking Man is puffing away in the background while Skinner briefs a group of Fibbie suits (including Krycek and Mulder) at a table in his office about Duane’s mental state, and asks Mulder if he agrees with the operational opinion. Mulder seems out of it, so Krycek steps up and says yes, and that Duane also thinks he’s going to be abducted by aliens. Mulder hasn’t shaved and is looking really scruffy, like he hasn’t slept, but at least he changed his suit. He’s wearing a light gray suit with a light blue shirt underneath, and a red tie with tan diamonds on it. Krycek however, is in the same exact suit he was wearing when we saw him last. I realize that Nick didn’t do all that much work on these two episodes, but at least have the character change his damn suit. Jeez. Krycek tells Skinner and the rest of the agents that Duane thinks that if he brings someone else to the abduction site, he won’t be taken. Skinner asks Mulder if he thinks Duane is acting this way because of the alien voices in his head.
Mulder says that the more important question is how Duane got to her in the first place. This scene is shot so that the CSM is in the background behind Mulder. Interesting. Mulder says that Scully was carrying the alien tracking device with her when she was taken, and Mulder seems to be inferring that the implant brought Duane to her. An FBI superior says that Scully’s report mentions Mulder making a miscalculation when it came to Duane’s psychosis. Mulder says that he did, but that it still doesn’t explain how Duane could have found Scully. Well, would you look at that, Krycek glances over at the CSM when Mulder says that. Even more interesting: as Skinner wonders where Duane could be taking her, and Mulder replies that Duane said something about a mountain, we see Krycek swallow like he’s nervous. Skinner then reports that Duane has Scully’s car and weapon, and orders Mulder to turn over his files to HRT. Mulder wants to brief them himself, but Skinner growls that Mulder has been up all night and should go home to get some sleep.
Mulder protests of course, telling the Skin-Man that he’s been inside Duane’s head, but Skinner orders him to go home. Then Skinner turns to Krycek and tells him to make sure Mulder gets home safely. Krycek puts his head down and gets this oddly nervous look when Skinner tells him that, like he’s either worried about being alone with Mulder for whatever reason, or that he’s worried about being entrusted to take care of the guy he’s been spying on this whole time. That little moment is very telling if you assume it’s the latter, and Krycek is having conflicting feelings about his work for the CSM. Awwww. I personally think Skinner should have ordered Krycek to fluff Mulder’s pillow while he was at it, if you get my double entendre, and I think you do, because your mind is as dirty as mine. Krycek gets up and the two men lock eyes. I mean, they really do, and I’m not even being remotely slashy here. Alex looks like he’s really concerned about Mulder. Krycek then [mouths words], according to the closed captioning, “C’mon,” and opens the door for Mulder.
A car driven by Duane is speeding along Route 229 in Rixeyville, Virginia at 11:23 a.m. that same morning. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ “Red Right Hand” is blasting over the car stereo, and I can recall that when I first heard that song being played during this scene, I was like, “What the hell kind of weird-ass song is that?” I have since come to appreciate Nick Cave’s strange singing talent and know this whole song by heart. This song is also available on the very first X-Files soundtrack album from 1996, “Songs in the Key of X,” which was followed by Mark Snow’s instrumental music from the series on “The Truth and the Light,” and then in 1998 we got the XF motion picture soundtrack by Mark Snow, as well as “The X-Files: The Album – Fight the Future.” Soul Coughing’s tracks are the best on the music albums, and did you know the frontman of Filter (also featured on the two music albums) is Robert Patrick’s brother? Now you can win an X-Files trivia quiz.
Back to the scene. Whoopsie, someone left a Canadian license plate on Duane’s car. There’s a big ol’ maple leaf in between the numbers. Heh, when Nick Cave sings that “you’ll see him in your nightmares, you’ll see him in your dreams,” Duane kinda looks at the radio and nods. He continues speeding while almost the entire song plays, until a highway patrol car stops him. The cop turns on his dashboard camera to capture all the fun that’s sure to occur, and I mean that in a bad way, believe me. Duane is nervous, that song is still playing, the cop slowly walks up to the car with his hand on his gun and I can’t stand the tension, arrgghhh. The cop nods at Duane, and we get a shot of Scully in the trunk with a gag in her mouth. The cop asks Duane to turn the radio off but Duane says he really needs to keep going. At the same time we hear a dispatcher over the cop’s car radio that an APB (all points bulletin) has been issued by the FBI for Duane. Back at Duane’s car, he asks the cop to just give him a ticket because he needs to be someplace, although he’s not sure where. I hate it when I get that feeling too, although I don’t think I’ve been abducted by aliens recently. The cop then notices Duane’s medical bracelet and the blood smeared all over it and his knuckles. Oh dear. The cop draws his gun (one-handed, which is generally not the proper way to draw down on someone) and tells Duane to put his hands on the steering wheel. Duane says They are waiting for him and he can’t be late.
Ohhh, the part I hate. The cop gets this scared, nervous look and repeats his request, but Duane refuses because he needs to keep moving. Duane does say, “Please, for your own sake” however, so I give him props for at least being polite. Then Scully bangs on the inside of the trunk, distracting the poor cop, and Duane shoots the guy right in the chest. Duane goes to the trunk to check on Scully, and she raises her head so we can see that she’s gagged, and there’s blood on her mouth. In Chris Carter’s commentary on “Duane Barry” on the Mythology DVD set, he says that they had to battle the censors to get this shot. Hell, nowadays you can zoom the whole damn camera inside a bullet wound in a dead body and no one makes a peep.
In a great fade-in, the scene previous in which we saw Scully is now up on a monitor at the FBI video production unit. I wonder what they produce? It’s 3:11 p.m., and Mulder and an FBI tech are going over the taped footage from the highway patrolman’s dashboard camera. The tech is able to magnify the footage to show Scully in the trunk of Duane’s car, and Mulder remarks that she’s still alive. He asks the tech to print out the photo. I remember thinking that this scene was really cool in its day, because of the way the tech was able to zoom in on the screen and then sharpen it so that we see Scully. I’m sure they took liberties with the technology, but it’s still harrowing when you watch it and the tech gives an audible “Oh my God,” when he sees Scully.
Still at headquarters, it’s now 4:03 p.m., and Mulder is staring at the photo of Scully and listening to the tape of Duane that the hostage negotiation team made while Mulder was talking to him in the Travel Time offices in the last episode. Mulder keeps focusing on the term Duane utters, “ascending to the stars.” To break up this bit of investigative work, Krycek walks in with coffee for Mulder. He has a mug for himself as well, just so we don’t think Alex went to fetch it for him or something. Krycek sits on the edge of Mulder’s desk and asks how he slept. Awwww! I keep doing that. I can’t help it; he’s being so nice. This kinda makes me wonder if he’s truly being a nice guy because he has come to like Mulder, or whether it’s all show. Hmm. Anyway, Mulder says that he didn’t sleep, and may I just point out that if Krycek took him home at 8:30 that morning and that it’s now 4:03, he must have only tried to catnap or something. Or perhaps Alex is asking because Mulder seemed extremely relaxed when he left him, if you know what I mean, and I think you do. He’s his partner! He should offer to help Mulder relieve…er…stress! Mulder keeps replaying the tape over and over again as Krycek sits there, and Nick just looks so cute and fresh-faced here it’s not even funny. I love how his hair is parted; he looks like a schoolboy. Alex notices that Mulder keeps replaying “ascending to the stars,” and asks Mulder what he thinks. Mulder asks Krycek where the patrolman was killed again, and Krycek tells him Route 229. Mulder thinks Route 229 leads to the Blue Ridge Parkway, but Alex doesn’t know. Hey, look at that, the clock on the wall actually says 4:03. Very good, editors!
Mulder gets up and walks to a stack of phone books. The very top one for the District of Columbia is only for A-K. AK stands for Alex Krycek! It’s a hidden clue! Or something. I just thought I’d point it out. Krycek isn’t quite sure what Mulder is getting at with the phone books, and says, “What?” Shall I also mention how cute they look together? Because they do. Mulder finds an ad for Skyland Mountain that has the term “Ascend to the Stars” in it. Mulder then *rips the page out of the phone book*, like, how incredibly rude is that, and Krycek smiles and laughs, probably thinking Mulder’s gonna get an ass-kicking for ripping up an FBI phone book, and looks amazed at his partner’s deductive skills and incredulously asks if Mulder knows where Duane is going. Mulder simply tells Krycek to get his car and meet him downstairs in five minutes. Krycek kind of follows after Mulder like a puppy dog and asks where they’re going, but Mulder won’t tell him. Krycek worries about Skinner, but Mulder says that he’ll deal with him.
In the Bureau parking garage, Krycek is on his cell phone saying that Mulder thinks Scully has been taken to Skyland Mountain, and that he’ll “hold him off until they locate her.” So obviously he was playing dumb in the previous scene, and pretended that he didn’t know where Mulder was headed. That boy is sharp. And he’s also scrumptiously evil, unfortunately for Mulder in this case. Krycek hears Mulder coming toward the car and tells the person on the other end of the line that he’ll be in touch. Mulder jogs over, and the Boys jump into Krycek’s car (license plate 7B3-286) and peel out of the garage, with Krycek driving. They pass by the CSM sitting in a parked car, who has a cell phone up to his ear. We’re led to believe that it was him Krycek was talking to.
On Route 211 in Warrenton, Virginia at 5:43 p.m., the Boys are riding in Krycek’s four-door maroon sedan, with Mulder driving. Mulder is nodding off behind the wheel, and Krycek yells at him when they drift into the other lane, directly into the path of an oncoming tractor trailer. Krycek chastises Mulder for dozing off, and suggests that he should drive. But Mulder protests that he’s fine. Okay, so at some point after they left the Bureau in D.C. — a little more than an hour ago — they pulled over so that Mulder could drive? What, did they stop for a Big Mac or something? Perhaps Mulder should ask Krycek to find a way to keep him awake, if you know what I mean, and I think you do, which is probably why Alex is in the passenger seat: easier access. Heh. I know. I’m bad.
Krycek sighs at Mulder’s obvious stubbornness, and drops this jewel, which I just had to transcribe verbatim: “Y’know, Chernobyl, Exxon Valdez, Three Mile Island, they were all linked to sleep deprivation.” Mulder turns his head to look at him, and then Krycek continues: “The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that over 190,000 fatal car crashes every year are caused by sleepiness.” Mulder would like to know how many people are put to sleep listening to their statistics, and DD holds the scene a little too long, as if he’s trying to make Nick laugh. When the camera shifts back to Krycek, he tells Mulder that he’s just trying to keep Mulder awake, and Nick does indeed have a slight smile on his face.
Mulder then tells Krycek that it was better they didn’t tell Skinner, because he would probably send in the cavalry and scare Duane into going over the edge. Krycek agrees with him, and Mulder says that if they find him first they will notify the Bureau. He asks Krycek if this is all right, and it seems like he’s trying to bring Krycek over to his side of thinking as a way to placate his nervousness about not telling Skinner. Krycek then wants to know if Mulder thinks Duane tracked Scully down with the implant, and Mulder says that’s the easiest explanation, but the most implausible. Mulder thinks someone gave Duane her address, and Krycek looks slightly unsettled when he says that, just as the Skyland Mountain exit comes up.
The Boys are walking with the tram operator, and Krycek shows him a photo of Duane. The tram operator confirms that he saw Duane there, and Krycek wants to know if the operator allowed Duane to go up on the tram. No way, says the dude, it’s closed down in the summer, and he told Duane to take the back road up. This was 45 minutes ago, the guy said, and when Mulder asks if he had a woman with him, the operator says no. The operator says it takes a little over an hour to drive to the top. Mulder demands to be brought up there, but the guy says no way, because they just got done refitting the cable and it hasn’t been tested with passengers. But Mulder is adamant of course, and actually unsnaps his holster. Okaaaay, threatening a civilian. First he sticks his hand in the blood at a crime scene, scares the abductee’s mother, rips the page out of a phone book, doesn’t tell Skinner he’s going after a suspect, nearly gets killed by nodding off behind the wheel, and now he’s threatening a civilian with a gun. Boy, someone give this guy a commendation!
In the tram control booth the operator turns a key on the panel to start the tram up. The operator (let’s call him Bob, because operator has too many letters) says that he can’t stop Mulder from going up there, but if anything goes wrong with the cable, he’s shutting that puppy down! Bob has some morals, and tells Mulder he won’t be responsible for his death. Mulder walks into the tram car, and locks the door behind him without allowing Krycek to get on. Krycek is pissed at this development, and Mulder tells him to stay there and make sure Bob doesn’t stop the tram. Bob starts giving Mulder instructions on how to use the tram, but Mulder hilariously just pushes the button and starts to take off. Typical of a man, never reading the instructions or stopping for directions. Bob yells at Mulder not to crank the speed over 15. Why do I get the feeling that Mulder won’t listen to that, either? Zoom, Mulder takes off, and Krycek is left behind to stare longingly at his partner. No, really, he’s staring longingly, and also kind of menacingly. Those two looks combined make up every single scene Krycek and Mulder share together in later episodes. Well…longing, menace, and unrequited passion. But that last one may be in my imagination.
And next we see Mulder cranking it up to 20 mph already. The cables are whining and squeaking, making Bob nervous. Duane, meanwhile, is speeding up the back road. Mulder cranks the tram up past 25, and in the tram control booth Bob watches as the speed indicator passes 26. Bob calls Mulder’s tram car, and tells Krycek that at that speed the cable won’t hold. Um, just a question: if the cable can’t handle that speed, regardless of whether or not it’s been refitted, why in the hell can the car be driven that fast anyway? Why not just have the maximum speed be 15? Why am I worrying about this when the writers obviously didn’t? The cables are grinding and squeaking, and Krycek looks sort of like he’s enjoying this because he’s still pissed Mulder wouldn’t take him for a ride. Okay, no, that’s not true, he just kind of stands there watching all this happen, but he starts to look concerned when Mulder gets the tram close to 30 mph. Bob wants to shut the tram down. He radios the car again and finally gets Mulder to pick up, and warns him that if he doesn’t slow it down the car will jump the cable when it passes the tower.
Mulder wisely slows the car down a bit and it makes it over the tower with just some [clattering]. Then we switch to Duane and see that he’s made it to the mountain’s summit. Isn’t there a main override switch that Bob can use in the control center? I mean, if the guy that threatened you with the gun is stuck up on a tram car, just shut it down and call the cops. Maybe he’s worried about what Krycek might do, which in the coming moments is probably a good fear to have, considering what happens.
Mulder slows it down again, but only for a moment so that he can pass the next tower. Krycek then shows some interest in Mulder’s progress, because he asks Bob how close he is. Hee, that sounded dirty. Bob tells Krycek that Mulder should be at the summit in a minute. And right after Bob says that, we see Krycek pull back his suit jacket, exposing his gun. Ruh roh, Rorge! Bob is focused on watching Mulder on the monitor as the tram nears the top, so he doesn’t notice when Krycek unsnaps his holster and bonks Bob over the head with his gun. Poor, trusting Bob. I bet he really files a complaint against the FBI now. First he’s threatened by Mulder, then he’s brained by his partner.
By the way, Krycek looks really, really scary when he hits Bob. His face is all snarly and mean. After Bob falls out of his chair, Krycek composes himself and smoothes his hair back into place. Nick talked about this scene at a convention in Secaucus, NJ over the Thanksgiving weekend of 1995, which I attended. That little hair thing wasn’t in the script, he said. He thought that Krycek would do that, because he was this really straight-laced guy. That just goes to show Nick’s attention to detail with this character. It’s a great moment.
Krycek then turns off the tram, causing Mulder to radio down and ask Bob (who’s unconscious at the moment obviously) to turn it back on. Mulder asks Krycek what’s happening, and to tell the operator to restart the tram. But Krycek is busy; he’s on his cell phone, telling whoever it is on the other end that he has Mulder stalled up there and that he’ll hold until he’s advised what to do. He follows orders so well. As this is occurring, Duane pulls up near buildings that have been shuttered for the summer at the mountain summit. Mulder radios to ask if there’s an emergency system on board the tram car, and sifts through a box of emergency evacuation items. He passes up the “screamer suit,” which I guess is what you do when you put it on and plunge to your death, and he also passes up what looks like a rappelling harness. He throws two more items to the side — a parachute? — and decides to pull down the ladder that leads to the top of the car. He gets out through the hatch, and is now walking around *on top of the tram car*, and then begins to *climb up toward the cable*. What does he plan to do, shimmy his way to the summit on the cable? This guy is nuts! Alex seems to think so too, because he sees this on the monitor, and has this “Oh, shit, they don’t pay me enough to put up with this crazy idiot” look on his face. He’s honestly amazed at either Mulder’s bravery, or stupidity. I think it’s the latter. Krycek kinda shakes his head a little at this development, and turns the car back on.
When the tram starts back up it flings Mulder from where he was climbing onto the top of the car, and he slides to the edge. And we all know that DD actually did his own stunt in this scene, hooked to a safety wire that was hidden under his suit. It’s still pretty damn scary-looking; you can see mountains in the distance. He’s really high up there. Mulder finally gets a foothold and is able to regain his footing; Krycek’s reaction to this is definitely relief. He closes his eyes and sighs deeply, and then puts his hand to his mouth. Some may think that Krycek was thwarted in his attempt to kill Mulder, but don’t forget Krycek is working for the CSM. The CSM protected Mulder time and again, and not just because Mulder was his son. And let’s assume that the CSM knew all along that Mulder was his son. Can you imagine what would have happened to Krycek if he allowed the son of an evil man like the CSM to fall off the side of the tram? Krycek would have been a pretty, pretty corpse, that’s for damn sure.
After reaching the ground (which we don’t see) Mulder, his gun drawn, heads toward Duane Barry’s car. Its driver-side door is open. It’s starting to rain heavily now, and Mulder holsters his gun while noticing that the car steering wheel had blood on it. David Duchovny does a really remarkable job here: he actually looks physically sick when he knows that he’s going to have to pop the trunk to check for Scully’s body. He does so, and finds bloody rope, and Scully’s gold cross necklace. And not to get all religious or anything, but I have to add something here for non-Christians or those who aren’t familiar with Christian beliefs. A cross is just that, a horizontal bar intersected with a vertical bar. A *crucifix*, on the other hand, is a cross with an image of Jesus Christ attached to it, which represents Christ being nailed to the cross as he was executed. There have been so many websites and magazines (Entertainment Weekly did it once) that called Scully’s cross a crucifix. That’s incorrect. So now you know.
As Mulder lifts the cross from the trunk and shines his flashlight on it, a bright light from the hill behind him illuminates the scene. Mulder squints, and the captioning calls the noise [whirring], which probably indicates a helicopter. But it’s shot so that we just see a light rising up into the sky, and then it suddenly flies away, as if it were a UFO. Mulder then hears Duane laughing. He takes off after Duane, and draws his gun on Duane. Duane is ecstatic, laughing and throwing his arms up in the air. Whooooo! He’s free of those “son of bitches,” which is good for him, but still incorrect English! He yells in third person once again that They can’t touch Duane Barry anymore. Mulder rushes up and cuffs Duane, yelling at him to find out who took Scully. Why, They took her, Mulder. It was Them, Duane says. As Mulder starts to walk Duane over the hill, the bright light shines again and Duane starts freaking out, yelling “No! No! No!” The wind is blowing, and it’s raining, and I bet DD and Steve Railsback had a hell of a time with this scene through all that. Duane is still yelling Nooooo as we go to commercial.
Okay, let’s lay out the timeline here before we go any farther. August 7, 1994 is where the episode “Duane Barry” began, with Krycek coming to get Mulder at the pool (Speedo, Speedo, Speedo!) and the Boys heading to Travel Time that same day for the hostage negotiation. Later that night, Duane is shot by HRT and taken to the hospital. The next morning, August 8, Agent Kazdin calls Mulder to the hospital to tell him they found implants in Duane’s body. That same afternoon, Mulder gives Scully one of these implants, and she goes shopping and runs it through the scanner. That same night Duane escapes and kidnaps Scully sometime before Mulder listens to Scully’s message at 11:23 p.m. The next morning on August 9, Mulder and Krycek have a meeting with Skinner at 8:30 a.m., and then by 5:43 that afternoon the Boys are headed to Skyland Mountain in hot pursuit of Duane.
Okay.
So, Skyland Mountain Summit, 8:46 p.m., August 9, by my timeline. We hear someone over the radio saying that they have sent out five rescue teams to search for Scully. Duane, meanwhile, is having his chest re-taped up by two EMT guys, since he was bleeding from the gunshot wound he received at Travel Time. One of the EMTs gives Duane a drink of water. The EMTs and another cop leave the room, walking past Mulder, who is sitting on a chair with his legs wide open from here until Sunday. He must be cooling his loins, hee. I keep staring at his crotch, but his pants are too loose, dammit. Not like the Speedo. Duane sitting in a chair, his hands handcuffed behind him, silent. Mulder stands and asks what happened after Duane took Scully out of the trunk. Duane is surprisingly cogent, telling Mulder they walked to the top of the mountain, and repeats that They took her because the deal was her instead of him.
Mulder closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before asking Duane if he killed Scully. Duane swears he didn’t, but Mulder wants to know how Duane got his interesting sunburn-like injury to his face. It was the ship, Duane says. Hmm, did you see Richard Dreyfus there, too? Was he making Devil’s Towers out of his mashed potatoes again? Mulder tells Duane that he didn’t see a ship, he saw a helicopter. Duane says he’s not lying, and that Mulder can ask Them, since They are standing outside the door. They happen to be two Men in Black, with Krycek in the background. They all walk away when Duane points them out. Duane starts to get agitated, yelling that the military is in on it, until Mulder slams him face-first into the desk. Then Mulder notices blood with red hair in it stuck to Duane’s medical bracelet.
Mulder demands to know if Duane hurt Scully, and when Duane denies it, Mulder starts choking Duane. Fox is seriously getting unhinged, here, poor guy. And he’s really choking the hell out of Duane, with his thumb and fingers right around the larynx. Ouch. It looks like he’s trying to rip his throat out. DD really puts effort into this scene, too, because he’s all hell-bent and really grimacing like a wild man. Duane is [coughing] and [gagging] and Mulder throws him back down into the chair. Mulder begins pacing, trying to calm himself down. He brings his hands to his face, and then grabs his jacket to exit the room. Duane tells him he’s sorry that They had to take her, and he hopes they’re not hurting her too much with the tests. Mulder leaves, and walks down the corridor, where he bumps into Krycek.
Krycek notices that Mulder seems upset, and asks what Duane said. Mulder tells Krycek that Duane gave him nothing, and oh my God, could they put any more eyeliner on Nick’s eyes in this scene? It’s really noticeable, especially the eye that’s turned toward camera. Hmm, his eyebrows are shaped nicely, too. So pretty. What was I saying? Oh, right, Mulder wants to know if Krycek has been in the hallway by himself the whole time, and Krycek says he has. Mulder tells him not to let anyone in Duane’s room. Some dude offers Mulder coffee, but he declines and walks to a window, to make his imaginary MulderScenario moment of Scully’s abduction more haunting: he looks at his reflection, which changes into an operating room of some sort, where Scully is laid out on a table. There are all these little hash marks being projected onto her skin, which looks really cool, but I’m sure they are so the Grays can aim their little drills easier. Eek. Then we see a drill coming down, Scully’s blue, blue eyes opening and dilating from the light, and then we see this weird pump thingy expanding her abdomen.
Mulder comes out of his reverie and hears a door open behind him. He goes to investigate, and finds Krycek in the room with Duane. Duane is shaking his head, and kinda looks scared. Mulder knocks on the window and motions Krycek out of the room. The Boys start talking over one another, Mulder saying that no one is to go in there with Duane, while Krycek is saying that he heard Duane choking and mentioned that Mulder choked him. Mulder asks if Krycek asked about Scully, and Krycek says that Duane started whistling “Stairway to Heaven.” I’ll let you classic rock fans determine what that one means.
The Boys hear a car pull up, and walk out of the hallway, while Krycek tells a man to keep an eye on Duane. They find a surly-faced Skinner and his posse, all of whom look slightly perturbed. Skinner grits that Mulder disobeyed a direct order. Mulder’s bitching out must wait, however, because the guy looking after Duane tells someone to call the paramedics. They all go running in, and two cops are hovering over Duane, saying that Duane was gagging. Mulder tries to ask Duane what happened, but Duane stops breathing. Skinner, Krycek, and Mulder all watch as the paramedics try to revive Duane with CPR.
The next morning at 6:07 a.m. (for those following along at home, that would be August 10) we open to the FBI Academy Morgue in Quantico. We see Duane’s toe-tag, on which the date of death has been mysteriously smudged out. His case number is 197735, though. Mulder is standing there, his arms folded, staring at the body. It’s also completely dark in the room, until the pathologist walks in and turns the light on. She’s all, Excuse me, and Mulder’s all, I’m Fox Mulder, Super FBI Agent, I’d like a copy of the autopsy report, what are your findings? The pathologist is like, Damn, I haven’t even had my coffee yet, bitch! She tells him there are second-degree burns on his face, contusions on the neck, bruised larynx, and tells Mulder that if she were to list cause of death, it would be asphyxiation. Mulder kind of lowers his head, and asks if she ran a tox screen yet. She says that it should be ready later that morning, but when Mulder requests a copy, she tells him he’ll have to go through regular military channels. Mulder’s like, whuh? and she says that Quantico is under military jurisdiction since there wasn’t an FBI pathologist available. And Mulder just gets the puppy dog look again, because he knows there *would* have been an FBI pathologist available if Scully wasn’t floating around the stars somewhere right at that moment.
Downtown Washington, D.C., 6:16 a.m. and our boy Alex Krycek is walking to his car in a parking garage. Hooray, he actually changed his tie! The white shirt and dark blue suit are the same, however. Krycek’s looking all shifty as he walks to the car. There’s good reason too, because when he sits down we see the CSM is the passenger seat. This scene in particular is where we learn that Alex isn’t as high up the Syndicate ladder as he thinks he is. Krycek is visibly nervous, and he clears his throat before he speaks to the CSM. The CSM puts out his cigarette in the car’s ashtray, and Krycek says that Skinner is expecting his report about the Duane Barry incident, and wants to know what he should say. The CSM tells him to tell the truth, and when Krycek is confused, the CSM says that Krycek has earned Mulder’s trust. Now Krycek has to keep it. Alex is like, how much longer do I have to play the lackey here and keeping sucking up (heh heh) to Mulder? The CSM says to keep playing along until the assignment is completed. Ooh, then Krycek gets uppity and wonders why they just don’t kill Mulder, and the CSM says it’s not policy. But Krycek doesn’t believe him, after what the CSM had him do. Does he mean the tram, or bonking Bob in the head, or perhaps slipping Duane something that killed him, making it look like Mulder was the one who strangled him? It’s not clear exactly to what he’s referring. Dammit, writers, we need to know this stuff! Anyway, the CSM offers up that classic quote, “Kill Mulder and you risk turning one man’s religion into a crusade.”
Krycek then asks about Scully, and the CSM is vague when he answers that They’ve taken care of it. Of course, being the fresh-faced double-agent that he is, Krycek would like to know how. But the CSM smacks him down, saying that They tell him only what he needs to know. Ooh, and then Krycek gets uppity again, *telling* the CSM that he thinks he has a right to know what They’ve planned for Scully. But it seems Krycek has no rights, only orders to be carried out! Hee, Krycek kind of opens and closes his mouth like a fish at that comment from the CSM. It’s like all of a sudden he’s realized that he’s bitten off more than he can chew. Then Krycek looks pissed off when the CSM tells him that if Krycek has a problem with it, They can make other arrangements. Then he closes his eyes as the CSM leaves the car. Nick just licked his bottom lip too, so it’s all shiny and kissable in this scene. Just thought you’d like to know.
Back in Skinner’s office at 10:36 a.m., the Skin-Man is looking at a photo of Duane Barry, and says that apparently the man died from “prolonged hypoxemia secondary to asphyxiation.” Skinner says that the cause is most likely strangulation, and as he passes the photo around to the other FBI officials, asks Mulder if he wants to share. Mulder says that he didn’t kill him. But Skinner and the other officials know that Mulder was a bad boy, and Mulder admits that he lost control and pushed Duane, but he then left the room. Mulder is looking rough here, and he is still wearing the same clothes from the night before. I bet he smells really stanky. Mulder says that when he left the room Duane was still alive, and that Alex spoke to him. But Skinner says that Krycek entered the room because Duane was gagging. But Mulder didn’t kill Duane; Krycek is also corroborating Mulder’s story.
But there’s still a dead suspect, so Krycek and Mulder are to report to OPC (the Office of Professional Conduct) to take a lie detector test. As Mulder gets up to leave, he posits that there is another possible cause of death: poisoning by injection or ingestion. He thinks the military covered up Duane’s tox screen report because they know where Scully is. All the FBI officials are looking at Mulder like he’s crazy again. They must go through that a lot, huh? Then one of the officials asks, “Why are you so paranoid, Mulder? ” And Mulder answers, “oh, I don’t know, maybe because I find it hard to trust anybody.” Hee, I used that as my answering machine message after this first aired while I was at college, and my mom would call up and say, “Who the hell was that guy on your answering machine?” LOL.
Slashiness alert! Mulder comes out of Skinner’s office and sees Krycek, and calls out to him, “Alex. Alex, can I borrow your car keys?” This marks the one and only time Mulder calls Krycek “Alex,” until Krycek’s final death scene in “Existence.” Of course, in this scene we also get that cute little shoulder touch as Mulder kinda slides his hand down Krycek’s arm. Now, we can’t read too much into it because Mulder has a habit of touching everyone like that. Mulder tells Krycek that there’s someone he needs to see, but Krycek balks, saying that they’re scheduled at OPC. Mulder uses the charm, and Krycek turns over the keys. Wouldn’t you if Mulder slid his hand over your shoulder like that? Hell, I’d offer to drive him via rickshaw if he wanted. After Krycek gives up the keys he looks decidedly apprehensive about something.
By 11:45 a.m. Mulder has entered the office building of Senator Richard Matheson, who you’ll remember as Mulder’s “patron” from the second-season opener episode “Little Green Men.” But looky here, Mr. X stops Mulder on the stairwell to tell him he wasted a trip, since the senator can’t help. There’s something brewing, X tells Mulder, and the senator can’t get involved. This scene is shot so that you can’t see X’s face at all; it’s completely in shadow. All you can see of Mulder is his chin and right ear. Seriously. It’s freakin’ dark. Anyway, Mulder whines that Deep Throat could have helped him, and then walks into the light to tell X that he thinks X knows what happened to Scully. But X is all slippery, and is playing cat and mouse with Mulder, asking why they killed Duane if there was nothing to hide. He tells Mulder he has no answers for him, and that They only have one policy: Deny Everything.
Mulder leaves the office building and gets into Krycek’s car. He [sighs], looking all lonely and forlorn because he’s missing Scully so much and not realizing that now is the perfect time to be seeing Krycek on the side without Scully knowing. Instead, he notices the ashtray is slightly open, and finds the CSM’s cigarettes: Morleys. Dun dun dunnnnnn! And for you non-smokers out there like me, did you ever have to pick up a cigarette butt? Gah, it’s nasty…it leaves residue on your fingers so that you can’t wash the smell away! Blargh. Mulder slams the ashtray shut. Ooh, he’s pissed off that the guy that would have made a great lover betrayed him! Or maybe he’s just pissed to find out the guy he’s been working with betrayed him. Either one.
Back in Skinner’s office at 8:11 a.m. Okay, now either time has shifted its universal invariant, or we’ve skipped ahead a day. But Mulder’s still wearing the same suit, and he looks even scruffier, so let’s assume it’s now August 11. This actually brings up something that may be interesting to all you writers out there: what was Mulder doing from the time he found the cigarette butts until the time he goes to Skinner’s office with his report about how he thinks Krycek is in on the conspiracy? Certainly it didn’t take Mulder all that time to type up the report. Was he looking for Krycek to prove that he was right in suspecting him? Did he find Krycek? Hmm.
Skinner reads Mulder’s report, and tells him that the allegations are serious. Mulder contends that they’re true, and Skinner reads the report in which Mulder says that Krycek was hired by an outside agency to impede their investigation and that Krycek might be responsible for Duane Barry’s death and the possible murder of Bob. Now, see, that sucks because we get confirmation that Bob was killed, but we never see if the bonk he sustained on the head lead to his death. Skinner growls that Mulder better have facts to back up these allegations, and asks his secretary to get Alex Krycek. Then the Skin-man says that he can’t protect Mulder, that it will become a larger Bureau matter. But Skinner asks what proof Mulder has anyway.
Mulder tosses the cigarette butt onto Skinner’s desk, where it lands next to the ashtray filled with the CSM’s other butts. Mulder reports that he found it in Krycek’s car, but Krycek doesn’t smoke. He goes on to say that Krycek was the last person to see Duane alive (which he wasn’t — it was the cop Krycek told to keep an eye on Duane), and that Alex was the last person to see Bob before he disappeared which is true, but how could Mulder have known that? And why would Skinner say that Bob was dead when he’s really missing, as Mulder mentions here? Mulder continues to say that he saw an unmarked helicopter at the summit of Skyland Mountain, and believes that Krycek (he calls him Krychick again, here) gave away Scully’s and Duane’s whereabouts to whomever he’s working with. He thinks they took Scully because she got too close to whatever it was they were trying to deny, because she had the implant in her possession. Mulder also hypothesizes that Scully’s “termination” would prevent the further involvement of Mulder and his work. Aww, sniff. Skinner wonders if Scully is dead, and Mulder says he doesn’t know, but he wants to know how far They’d go.
Then Mulder asks Skinner what he knows about Krycek , and Skinner says that he didn’t give him the assignment. The rest of his statement is cut off by his ringing phone, as the caller informs him that Krycek didn’t show up for work and his home number has been disconnected. Mulder is pissed, wanting to know why these people just keep getting away with murder. Skinner tells him to let it go, but Mulder is on a rant, and wants to know what Skinner can do about it. Skinner decides to re-open the X-Files!
Mulder is sitting outside when Mrs. Scully appears. She thanks him for calling her. She better not sit too close to him; he’s probably really stinky right now. He tells her he doesn’t have any more that he can tell her, but she seems grateful knowing that he’s doing all he can. She says that she had that scary dream again in which Dana is being taken away, and Mulder says it’s scarier if she stops having the dream. Mulder fishes Scully’s cross from his pocket and asks Mrs. Scully why Dana wore it if she was such a skeptic. Mrs. Scully says that she gave it to Dana on her 15th birthday. This, of course, contradicts a later episode in which we see Dana and her sister Melissa getting the crosses for Christmas. Duh, writers. Mrs. Scully hands the cross back to Mulder, telling him to give it to Scully when he finds her. Aww. Let’s pretend Mulder and Mrs. Scully had a really nice relationship over the course of the show, unlike his relationship between him and his real mother. It makes me happier to imagine him going over to her house to bake cookies and do “mom things” with her.
Back at Skyland Mountain, Mulder walks over the ground again and up and over the hill where he first found Duane Barry, and stops. He looks up into the star-filled night sky, and we fade to black.
Recap by RhymePhile