5×08 – KITSUNEGARI
Recap by Mack the Spoon
You know, this is a really good episode. It’s not as good as “Pusher”, of course, but let’s face it – few episodes, period, could be. But there’s great continuity, great character stuff, and the climactic scene is almost as pulse-pounding as the Russian roulette scene. Tim Minear, who rules in general, did a good job here along with Vince Gilligan. It has its issues, though, and never fear, I will point out those that stand out to me.
Anyway, we open at Lorton Penitentiary, which my sister informs me (having researched it for a fic) is where they kept John Lee Roche. Totally great place to be, in other words. We’re in the hospital ward, watching someone do physical therapy. And I think it would be more of a mystery who it was if the DVD menu for the episode didn’t have a big picture of our good friend Robert Patrick Modell on it. Heh. So yeah, pushing a big plastic wheel across the floor. The therapist lady says to this ‘mysterious’ person, “Come on, keep pushing. I want five more steps and then you’re done.” Did you hear that, with the Pushing? Do you think it’s a Clue?
As the man strains to finish the task, we see two prison guards/orderlies in the background, watching alertly. The younger one also played the prison guard that Mystique pumped full of liquid iron so Magneto could use it to escape from his plastic jail in X-Men 2. That’s a great movie. But you’re here for this episode, and so am I. Ahem.
So. Once the man finishes his task, the orderlies move forward with a wheelchair so he can sit in it. The therapist congratulates “Bobby” on having done so well, and the older orderly tells younger to back off and keep his finger on the pepper spray, as he straps the man into the chair’s restraints. Younger Orderly looks resentful but does as he’s told.
Meanwhile, the therapist asks the older guy, Mr. Piero, if it’s all really necessary. Mr. Piero quite firmly says that it is. The next scene is the two of them pushing (heh, that word comes up a lot) the wheelchair down the hall of the hospital ward. The younger guard wants to know “this guy’s story”, and Piero explains that he’s a “cop killer, regular people killer” and “general all-around waste of skin.”
Contemptuously, Chuck (that’s the younger guy’s name) asks what Piero’s so afraid of, then. “Guy’s a freaking vegetable, I mean, what’s he going to do … run over you with his big plastic wheel?”
Piero, annoyed and very serious, responds that if Chuck wants to last here at this job, he needs to never underestimate this man, and never let his guard down around him. “Capisce?” he asks, to which Chuck replies, “Comprendo.” This show sure is educational and stuff. Chuck looks thoughtful and perhaps unconvinced as the door buzzes. When the door opens, we see (gasp!) that it is indeed Pusher, staring straight ahead and not responding to what’s been said around him.
Nighttime. Chuck is at the guard station thingy by the door to the ward, pouring himself a cup of coffee out of his thermos. He looks up and sees a red light, presumably a call light of some sort, flashing from one of the rooms. Sighing, he gets up to investigate. Unsurprisingly for the viewing audience, the room is Modell’s. Though Chuck looks in through the window and sees Pusher just lying there in bed, the light continues flashing.
Chuck pulls out his pepper spray and opens the door. He cautiously approaches the bed, where we see that Pusher’s just tapping the button for the light over and over, face completely impassive. Chuck gets closer, and if we didn’t know he was a goner before, as soon as he leans in to hear what Pusher is whispering, our fears are confirmed. I can’t tell what it is he’s saying, by the way, but I guess it doesn’t matter. Chuck’s eyes go a little unfocused and the music builds to a crescendo.
The next morning, Piero comes in and sees that Chuck’s post is empty. He calls his name, and hears only a rhythmic pounding in response. Quite nervous now, he runs toward the source. Modell’s door is open, and he goes inside. Modell is gone, of course, and Chuck is sitting against the wall, banging his head against it and looking not all there. Piero asks what happened, although I think he pretty much knows. Chuck, still all glassy-eyed, replies dully, “He had to go.” I think I remember being vaguely surprised that Chuck survived his encounter, and what do you know? That does turn out to be important.
Credits. I love them. Next we see Mulder and Scully (I love them, too!) walking into what I assume is the prison. They come up to where Skinner is briefing a big group of people on the situation. He mentions that the orderly is being questioned, but they don’t expect to get much out of him because of his mental state. Well, at least he didn’t have all his blood magnetically pulled out of him this time. Skinner continues that they the last confirmed bed check of the prisoner was 2:04 am, and as of 6:14 he was reported escaped.
One of the men, a marshal, asks how he escaped. Skinner, through clenched teeth (I know, I know, he never does that! It’s amazing.) answers that he probably just walked out the front door. Everyone except Mulder and Scully shake their heads in disbelief and disgust. Skinner goes on that the FBI will be leading the manhunt, with the expertise of the Marshal Service, and that all efforts will be coordinated with either Skinner or Mulder and Scully, his designated Special Agents in Charge. Aww. He indicates that Mulder should take over. They both, I must say, look pretty awesome right here. Scully’s wearing a lovely, flattering purple suit and her hair is immaculate, and Mulder… need I really explain? Sigh.
Anyway, Mulder explains a little about Modell: his name (of which he of course has three, because he’s a serial killer), that he specifically targets law enforcement, that it’s all a game to him, and that last time he was looking for “a worthy adversary.” Scully takes over briefly, telling about his ideas of being a Japanese warrior and that it just means he’s “a highly intelligent sociopath who has no fear of dying.” She adds that he likes to leave clues, so they expect to be contacted by him, sooner rather than later. I think I’ve remarked on this before, but Gillian Anderson pronounces “rahther” like a Brit. It’s cute.
Mulder speaks again, rounding it all off again by saying they expect Modell to pick up right where he left off. One of the marshals asks for clarification about how he could just walk out the door, and Mulder reminds everyone that Modell is called “Pusher” because he has the ability to force his will upon others – all the victims’ wounds were technically self-inflicted. Predictably, this does not go over well, and Mulder gets irritated and glances at Skinner before concluding, “Okay, look, this is all you need to know. Do not trust this man, do not talk to him, do not engage him in conversation, even if he is unarmed. Approach him only with extraordinary caution, and then only with adequate backup.” And adequate backup, according to Mulder, is every cop you can lay your hands on.
As Skinner hands out assignments, Mulder and Scully move off to the side and Mulder asks her what Modell’s condition is. She says he’s extremely weak, and that the doctors say he can barely even walk. Mulder seems skeptical, and Scully agrees that she’s amazed he’s even alive, what with the whole being-shot-through-the-head-and-comatose thing. Poor Scully. It’s only when her sister gets shot in the head that she doesn’t survive. For everybody else on this show, especially if they’re a bad guy? Bullet in the head is no problem.
Mulder asks about the tumor that was supposed to be killing Modell. Scully says it still is. Mulder wants to talk to his physical therapist, but Scully stops him. Looking very concerned (and still absolutely stunning, I might add), she asks, “Mulder… what if Modell plans to pick up where he left off? Where does that leave you? You were his prime target. Should you even be heading this investigation?”
As usual, Mulder doesn’t seem to get it. “As opposed to what? What’s your point?” Scully replies that it would mean Mulder is playing Pusher’s game again. Mulder just nods shortly and walks off, leaving Scully sighing worriedly.
We switch over to a lovely Vancouver street – I mean, “Occuquan, Virginia” street, where the TVs in a sporting goods store are playing news footage of Robert Patrick Modell’s escape. (I wonder if Robert Patrick watched these episodes before he was on the show, and ever found it odd that he shared most of a name with one of the more infamous baddies.) Just as the kid behind the counter hears the newscaster warn residents not to approach the man, the door opens and in walks Modell himself.
To his credit, the kid only blanches for a second, and then tries to act normal as he reaches down for the baseball bat behind the counter. Unperturbed, Modell (still dressed in his prison outfit) asks, “You’re not scared of snakes?”
The kid is confused, but Modell nods down at the bat. “Looks like a timber rattler.” The kid, whose name tag reads “Todd”, is now petrified, since he indeed appears to be holding a large rattlesnake just below the head. Modell tells him to hold on tight and not let it bite him, and not to drop it or it’ll get him. Then, as if legitimately annoyed that Todd is otherwise occupied, he asks, “Do you think I could get some service now?”
Poor Todd nods distractedly. Modell tells him in that voice of his to go into the back and put the snake down. We’re treated to the bizarre sight of him holding a baseball bat by the grip, pointing downwards, at arm’s length like it’s… well, about to bite him. Modell watches, then grabs some “carbo bars” from a display and eats one. He looks up at the screen, where the news is still covering his escape. Mulder and Scully are seen getting out of their car and going into the prison, and Modell seems very interested. It’s hard to say exactly what’s going through his head, though.
We cut to imaging scans of Modell’s brain, and the therapist is assuring Mulder and Scully that Modell couldn’t have been totally faking it, because “the gunshot wound did a hell of a lot of damage.” Mulder nods, and nods again when she remarks that he must be the one who shot him. Scully, looking through his charts, notes that he had a visitor yesterday, marked “L.S.C.” The therapist says that’s the ‘Little Sisters of Charity’, who try to visit all hospitalized inmates.
Mulder asks if he ever had any other visitors, but the therapist says he didn’t have much in the way of family, having been raised in foster care. Mulder shrewdly points out that she seems to have gotten to know the man. She replies a little defensively that Modell never gave her any grief and worked hard to get better, so they chatted sometimes – just small talk. “He’d ask how I was.”
Mulder somewhat ironically says, “He’s a very considerate man.”
Still defensive, the woman states, “I don’t doubt for a second Robert Modell belongs in prison. But I never had any problem with him personally.”
Mulder might be about to respond, but a guy bursts in and says, “Agents! It’s Modell.” M & S run out of the room together, to where the first meeting was. Skinner announces that he’s asking for Mulder, and they’re running a trace and just need 30 seconds. Mulder walks over to the phone, exchanges a look with Scully to show he remembers her warnings, and picks it up. “Yeah.”
Modell cracks a joke about “It’s alive”, and meanwhile Scully is about as close to Mulder as she can get without being all over him, looking extremely worried. I don’t blame her at all, considering what happened the last time Modell had a phone conversation with anyone. And also considering that Mulder is really hot. (What? He totally is! Oh right, the plot.) Mulder cuts in on Modell’s laughing at his own joke and says he’s not interested in playing the game.
Modell just remarks that Mulder’s being touchy, and says there’s something he needs him to hear. Mulder responds that Modell can tell him in person. When Modell tries again to get him to listen, Mulder insists, “No, you listen to me. Either you come back here on your own or I drag your sorry ass back on the bumper of my car.”
Scully asks how much longer is needed. Four more seconds.
Modell: “When did you turn into Clint Eastwood?” Oh, it was sometime in S3, dude. I think it was before your first episode – did you miss that? I can’t really remember the order, though. Scully leans into Mulder’s face again and begs him not to let Modell rope him in. Modell’s still talking, trying to make Mulder listen to whatever the heck he’s got to say. I would think it would be easier to just say it and get it over with, but it’s not my hypnotic phone conversation, I guess. He mentions that he knows the call is being traced, and doesn’t care.
Scully tells Mulder to hang up the phone as Skinner looks on nervously. Mulder closes his eyes, and hangs up in the middle of Modell blabbing on and on about what he needs Mulder to hear. They all look at the agent running the trace. She says they got it.
Mulder, Scully, and some marshals bust into the sporting goods store, guns drawn. Mulder notices the carbo bar wrapper. But there’s no other sign of anything, and Skinner wonders how far he could have gotten. Then Mulder looks out the window and sees a man in prison garb, wandering down the street. We can only see his back. “Outside!” he yells, except for some reason Duchovny’s yell is back to sounding like it did in S1 or 2, and it’s just not very convincingly intense. Heh.
But they all run outside, anyway, Mulder almost getting hit by a minivan as he runs out into the road. I’m suddenly quite distracted because I recognize one of the many skyscraper hotels of Vancouver behind the guy. I’ve totally been on that street. Mulder claps a hand on the guy’s shoulder and turns him around, putting his gun to his chest.
It’s not Modell, of course. It’s Todd from the store, and he looks very, very confused. As the other agents surround them, Mulder lets go of him and Skinner asks, “Where is he?” Todd: “He had to go.” Mulder does his frustrated stalk off, and Scully looks pensive.
We cut to a blonde-haired woman in a picture frame. Modell puts the picture down, leaving a fingerprint in blue paint. We hear him leave the house we’re now in, and the camera pans over an empty bucket of blue paint (I believe the brand name is “Breeze”, which: hee!), several blue footprints, and a paintbrush covered in the same hue. Paint is also dripping off a man who is sitting on the couch, completely coated in it. Eew. Fade to black.
The camera pans around the same house again, with police radio chatter in the background. We can see this time that there are characters (as in, symbols used for Japanese or Chinese writing) painted over the walls and curtains. Mulder: “I’m going to take a wild stab here and guess this is a clue.” Heh.
Scully is looking at the paint-covered corpse. With a gloved hand, she opens his mouth, and blue paint pours out. Eeeeww. She makes a face and states that it looks like he died from ingesting it. She guesses that he did all the painting and then drank the rest of it. Just then Skinner walks in with an Asian-looking woman, to whom he directs, “See what you can make of all this.” Then he asks Mulder and Scully, “Modell?”
Scully points out that the paint (actually “Gulf Breeze” brand, my mistake) is Cerulean Blue. Skinner wants to know the point of all this. Scully explains, as Mulder chews his lip pensively in the background, that it could be because the victim, Nathan Bowman, was the man who prosecuted him back in 1996.
The Asian woman interrupts the discussion to announce that it’s not a manifesto, just the same ideogram over and over. It’s sloppy, but it says, “ ‘kitsunegari’ – ‘fox hunt.’”
Mulder raises his eyebrows slightly, and Scully wryly exposits, “Fox Mulder.” No, really? Wait, you mean Mulder’s first name is Fox? And Pusher has some sort of agenda against him?? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?? Sorry, I just think that scene would have been a lot more subtle if they’d just shown Mulder and Scully getting it, without trying to make sure we weren’t too stupid to do the same.
Mulder notices the picture with the fingerprint on it, and asks if Nathan Bowman was married. Scully uncovers his left ring finger, and answers in the affirmative. Skinner, to Mulder: “What are you thinking?” Mulder doesn’t reply, of course, but walks over to the phone and sees that one of the speed-dial numbers is listed as “Linda office”. He surmises that it’s the wife, then dials the number.
Upon learning that Mrs. Bowman is out to meet with a client, he asks who. “It’s, uh, Mr. Fox Mulder,” says the secretary. Scully quietly says, since she’s apparently stuck with the exposition for this scene, “It’s him.” Skinner tells him to find out where. When he hears that it’s a commercial property in Falls Church, Skinner gets the Falls Church PD on the phone.
We see a Falls Church police car drive up to a warehouse. Hey, that’s Raoul’s dad, from Doc, getting out of the car. Okay, you can stop judging me now. Yes, I watched that show on PAX for a while. Deal with it. It wasn’t for Billy Ray Cyrus’s acting skills, I can assure you. Anyway, Raoul’s dad and his partner radio in that they’re at 214 Channel Avenue, and they’re going to go in. The dispatcher copies, and says to use extreme caution and that backup is on the way.
The two officers go inside, guns and flashlights at the ready. The music is tense. They split up. Oh, great. That’ll turn out well. The guy who’s not Raoul’s dad hears Modell’s voice, leading him closer to himself. I suppose this is actually Modell doing this, right? I mean, Linda Bowman really does drive up later. I don’t really understand why he’s doing this, though. I suppose just to pass the time until Mulder gets here. In any case, Modell taunts the guy with “you’re getting warmer” type of comments, until he says he’s right in front of the officer. We don’t see anyone, but then he rounds a corner and sees Modell with a gun.
The officer tells him to drop it, and he does so, and puts his hands up and gets down on the ground under direction from the officer, too. This is a sign that’s something’s definitely up, especially since “Modell” isn’t saying anything else. Then the cop calls to his partner that he’s got him.
Meanwhile Skinner, Mulder, and Scully have arrived, along with a whole lot of others. They run into the building. Skinner identifies them all as federal agents and asks where the officers are. The guy calls back, “Upstairs! Sir, I got him!”
Everybody races upstairs – to find that the cop has his gun trained on poor Raoul’s dad, who says that he just went crazy. They take the gun away. Skinner remarks that Modell must have indeed been there. Scully wonders why he’d go after Bowman’s wife. At that moment, another officer shouts that they have a visitor. Thank goodness he didn’t say, “We’ve got company!” Man, I get tired of that. And I guess if he had said that, it would have been too obvious right away that Linda Bowman was eeeevil, since you can only say that if a bad guy is approaching – or so TV and movies tell me.
Linda Bowman steps out of her car, and does a good job looking confused and anxious at all the police cars parked there. Mulder greets her and identifies himself, and she continues to look baffled, asking, “Uh, you’re my 12:15?” Heh.
The next scene is Mrs. Bowman sitting down somewhere in the warehouse, being interviewed. She sounds teary as she explains that all she knew was that she was supposed to meet a Mr. Mulder here, and she didn’t have a number to reach him and tell him she was running late. Then she asks why anyone would do this to Nathan. Scully, also sitting down, asks kindly if he ever discussed his work, specifically Robert Patrick Modell, with her. Since she says, “You mean Pusher?” in response, we can take that as a yes.
Skinner explains that they think he murdered her husband. She denies this possibility, saying that Pusher’s in prison, but Mulder says, “Not since 6:00 this morning.” At Mrs. Bowman’s fairly convincing display of distress, Scully makes a sympathetic expression that I find hilarious for some reason, and Skinner assures her that the FBI will protect her. As Skinner leaves with her, he simply tells Mulder and Scully, “Find him.”
Scully says, “Yes, sir,” and starts to go, but Mulder hasn’t moved. He wonders why Modell didn’t just kill those two cops, which is, again, something I vaguely noticed the first time around. Scully hopes it was because he was too tired, but Mulder isn’t sure. He says something doesn’t make sense, and then asks to borrow who I assume is a police officer’s radio.
We see Linda Bowman being escorted by Skinner and a guy with a shotgun into an FBI car, and then we see that it’s Modell who’s watching this through the blinds of a nearby building. He’s eating a carbo bar again (maybe that’s what made him homicidal in the first place – in my experience, those things are nasty), and he keeps watching as Mulder walks vaguely toward the window, walkie-talkie in hand. There’s a Latino man in the room with Pusher, presumably the janitor. He looks unfocused. Pusher hands him back his thermos with a “Gracias, amigo”, and leaves the room.
Mulder enters the building, looking uncertain until he sees the wrapper of the carbo bar right in the hallway. And here’s where I start ranting, “Mulder, you idiot, you’re going in alone to face this guy, without telling anyone??” He walks up the stairs, gun drawn. I guess that’s the only place to go? I dunno. Maybe Pusher’s sort of pushing him already, otherwise how does he know?
So he rounds a few corners, and no one’s there. Finally, he goes around one more corner, and there’s Modell, not looking too good. He snarks, “What took you so long?” Mulder pulls out the radio and says, “Scully, I got him. Come quick.” Oh, thank goodness Mulder wasn’t being quite as stupid as I thought. This time.
Modell tries to stop him, but Mulder tells Scully where he is, and then puts the radio away and yells at him to shut up when he starts in on the whole “I have to tell you something” spiel again. But though Mulder continues to state loudly that he will shoot Modell, he isn’t actually doing anything other than holding out his gun, and Modell keeps telling him to listen. Trembling with effort, he finally makes Mulder listen.
Scully and a bunch of other agents run toward the building. Mulder is leaving, looking disorientated. And when Scully asks where Modell is, we can all mouth along with him, “He had to go.” Scully sighs. Fade to black.
Next scene is Scully on her cell phone, saying it was just 10 minutes ago and he can’t have gotten far. She continues that Agent Mulder is fine. I have shrewdly deduced that it’s probably Skinner on the other end, but I could be wrong. She hangs up and walks over to Mulder, who is leaning against a car and brooding. She asks how he’s feeling.
“Well, aside from the utter grinding humiliation that comes from knowing I let our suspect go, pretty good,” Mulder says bitterly. Scully tries to tell him it could have happened to anyone, but that just makes him think of something. “No, actually, it couldn’t have. I didn’t find Modell. He sought me out. He wanted me to hear his message,” he says. And that message was not to play the game. Seriously? Why in the world couldn’t he have said that waaaaay back at the beginning, on the phone, instead of just going on and on and on about how he wanted Mulder to hear it?
Scully assumes he meant Modell’s game, but Mulder doesn’t think so. He doesn’t even really think Modell’s playing a game. This alarms Scully, who reminds him that he said himself at the prison that Modell was going to pick up where he left off. But Mulder counters with asking why he didn’t kill the cops or the prison guard – or Mulder, while he was at it.
Scully argues that he killed Nathan Bowman, but Mulder won’t agree with that, either. He says Modell was there, but that doesn’t prove he did it. Now Scully’s really worried: “Mulder, this man’s affected you. He’s influenced your thinking.”
Mulder, annoyed, says it’s not like that. Scully wants to know, then, why he’s trying to say it isn’t Pusher after seeing a man made to drink cerulean blue paint, and the word “kitsunegari” (which she helpfully translates for us again). Mulder says that Modell is involved, related to it all, but not the way Scully thinks.
Scully: That’s your opinion?
Mulder: Yeah, that’s my opinion.
Scully: How can you be sure it’s your own?
Mulder: What do we still agree on here? That Modell was pursuing Linda Bowman? I’d like to know why.
At the safe house, Linda Bowman is shakily explaining to Mulder and Scully that she doesn’t think she can tell them much more than she already has. Mulder politely says they appreciate her help. She says she does know that Nathan was proud of having prosecuted the case, because Modell was very clever and dangerous and a menace to society. She goes on to ask, rather pointedly, if Mulder was the one Nathan mentioned who shot Modell. Mulder quietly says yes. She says that Nathan said it was too bad the shot didn’t kill him and save the taxpayers the cost of a trial.
Scully, perhaps watching Mulder more closely than Mrs. Bowman during this whole scene, remarks that her husband seems to have talked about it a lot with Linda. She says yes, because he was proud of it, and adds, “I guess he felt that, that it was his brush with greatness.” At this, Mulder looks up and stares at her.
Scully suggests that maybe Mr. Bowman mentioned her to Modell (what, like they had regular chats together?), but Mrs. Bowman doubts it because they’d only been married two months. Mulder asks how long they knew each other. She laughs a little and says it was two months and two days, but why wait when it’s true love?
She goes on, “It’s not like Nathan was impulsive or flighty. I don’t want to paint him as that.” Mulder seems to understand, and suggests, “He was true blue.” I remember thinking, “Man, Mulder, that’s really insensitive of you,” but Linda Bowman just nods. Mulder thanks her and gets up to leave, Scully following and looking confused. Poor Scully. How often is she in that position?
Outside, Mulder states, “She killed Nathan Bowman.” Scully doesn’t believe him (no way!), but Mulder goes on as Skinner comes up, too, that Modell was there but it was for some other reason, because Linda Bowman definitely killed her husband. Skinner starts to object. Mulder: “Wait a minute, just hear me out. Her husband’s brush with greatness, she doesn’t want to paint him as being impulsive. Who the hell talks like that?” I hate to break it to you, Mulder, but you’re on The X-Files. Don’t you remember some of these voice-overs? Heck, you’ve done so many, yourself, already! People who live in glass houses shouldn’t complain about unnatural-sounding speech!
Skinner and Scully are unimpressed and starting to get that condescending ‘oh dear, Mulder’s nuts again’ look in their eyes. Perhaps Mulder is too used to it to notice right away, though, because he doesn’t back off. Instead he proceeds to try to clarify – she was waving it under their noses, and he should have realized because Modell warned him not to play the game. Skinner: “Modell told you?” Bad move, Mulder. But Mulder doggedly keeps on, wondering why the woman doesn’t want to know how her husband was killed, and why she doesn’t seem all that scared even though a serial killer is supposedly stalking her.
Skinner just says she’s in shock and isn’t herself. “And I might add, neither are you.” Mulder just moves on to Scully – “You heard it in there, Scully.” Surely she’ll believe him, and remember that Mulder Is (pretty much) Always Right. But nope. As she says, Mulder himself warned the others not to listen to Modell or trust him, but it seems he himself has done both. Mulder asks, “But what if she can do what Modell does?” Apparently that idea is the last straw to his credibility. Skinner tells Mulder to go home.
Mulder is typically wounded and self-righteous (justifiably so, in this case), and gets even moreso when Skinner clarifies that Mulder is “suspended until such time I’m confident your judgement is sound”, and asks for Mulder’s weapon. Mulder asks quietly who Skinner thinks he’s going to point it at, but now Scully, very distressed, says she thinks Mulder should do it. Looking rather like a kicked puppy, Mulder does so. It pains me when they don’t trust each other!
Linda Bowman comes out at that moment and asks for some water. Skinner says of course, and Mrs. Bowman gives a little triumphant stare at Mulder. Mulder turns around and stalks off, declaring that he’ll prove it. Skinner tries to stop him, but Mulder just yells back disgustedly, “Go fetch her some water!” You know, “water” is one of those words DD never says without the New York accent being very apparent.
Mulder is talking to the physical therapist again. She’s denying that she knew Modell very well, but Mulder wants to know anything at all unusual that he ever said, about anyone. Finally the woman remembers something someone said “aboat” him that seemed unusual – one of the nuns from the LSC once called him “a conquered warrior”, which she thought was kind of weird.
Mulder wants to know if this is the same woman who visited him before he escaped, and she says it was always the same one and she’d come three or four times. Intrigued, Mulder takes out a picture of Linda Bowman to ask whether she’s the woman. The phone rings. The therapist apologizes and goes to answer it and find her glasses, because she needs them to see the picture. While talking on the phone, she keeps trying to find them but can’t. Mulder walks away a few paces to wait until the call is over, but quickly turns around when he hears her say, “Oh yeah, he’s here.” The doctor casually opens the fuse box, and though Mulder shouts, horrified, “No!”, she stretches out her hand and touches the leads. Sparks fly, and Mulder frantically looks for some way to get her off. He grabs a mop with a nearby handle and pries her off, feeling for a pulse. Then he calls out for help before starting CPR on her.
At the gate to the safe house, a marshal standing guard lets a Falls Church police car in. The car is carrying Pusher in the back seat. The window rolls down, and the marshal asks, “You got him?” The driver doesn’t reply, but rolls down the back window, leaving Pusher free to tell the marshal to go home. Which I assume he does, since his face gets all confused and unfocused.
Pusher enters the room where Linda Bowman is. He doesn’t look very good – he’s pale and sweaty. Mrs. Bowman stands and looks perhaps surprised to see him, but it’s hard to tell. He locks the door and faces her.
In the meantime, Scully is getting out of a truck, and her phone rings. It’s Mulder, and he tells her he’s at the prison. She attempts to tell him he was supposed to lay off, but he says it’s too late for that and explains how he just witnessed the therapist’s death. Scully: “It was Modell.” Mulder: “It was Linda Bowman.” Scully starts to object, and Mulder cuts in that she would have identified Bowman and verified that she visited him in prison. Scully says he can’t know that was going to happen. Mulder just wants Scully to trace the call and cut off Mrs. Bowman’s access to phones.
When Scully says she’s not at the safe house, but investigating a suicide at a nearby mall, Mulder wants to know why no one’s answering at the safe house switchboard. Scully hangs up the phone and tells everyone to get back in the trucks. I’m glad she’s capable of admitting Mulder has a point, even when she doesn’t believe his theory.
Meanwhile, Skinner is walking through the halls of the safe house, reading a file, when he hears the phone ring. Noticing how empty the place is, he pulls out his gun and walks toward Linda Bowman’s room. Finding it locked, he kicks it down. Aww, yeah. Skinner is so awesome.
Modell is there, of course, with a hand raised toward Linda Bowman. Skinner yells for Modell to get on the floor, and he calmly responds, “Hey, it’s Mel Cooley.” Very nice continuity there, since that is in fact what he called Skinner all those years ago, back before making Holly beat him up. Good times. Or not. Anyway, Skinner continues to yell for him to get on the floor, and Modell gives a look of something like sadness at Linda before stating, “I have a gun.” Then he whirls around and is suddenly aiming it at Skinner.
Skinner fires and Modell goes down. Mrs. Bowman gasps and takes a few steps toward Modell, looking shocked but also succeeding in not looking too sad. Skinner gets closer, and sees that Modell is bleeding from a shoulder wound but the only gun he has is one made of his fingers. Fade to black on Skinner’s astonished face.
Later, Scully watches the paramedics and a few marshals take Modell away. Mulder runs up to them as Scully asks what Modell said to Skinner. “He said we got our man,” Skinner says glumly. Mulder has reached them and demands to know what happened. Skinner tries to remind Mulder he’s not supposed to be here, but Mulder persists. Some might call Mulder stubborn, you know? Skinner explains that Modell had a gun, that he saw it clearly and it was a revolver.
Mulder is disbelieving, and Scully adds that no one’s found a gun yet. Mulder clarifies: “He said to you that he had a gun.” Skinner gets defensive and coldly replies, “Yes. And he did.” But seeing no real belief on either of their faces, he excuses himself and leaves. I think this is the first and only time any of our favorite agents other than Mulder are pushed.
Mulder takes this chance to explicate to Scully that Modell must have been unarmed and he purposefully drew Skinner’s fire. Scully wants to know why, and Mulder says it was to protect someone. Scully, resigned, finishes for him, “Linda Bowman.” Mulder agrees – he took the fall for her.
Scully: “That’s one hell of a plan, Mulder. A serial killer makes us believe that he’s guilty, in turn diverting the suspicion away from the real estate lady. Well, he had me going.”
Mulder isn’t having this. He wants to know where she is. Scully says they took her home, because it’s over now. Of course Mulder does not hold the same opinion, and he turns to go. He says he wants to be the first person Modell talks to if he makes it out of surgery. Scully counters that talking to him has already caused Mulder enough trouble. I don’t think Modell’s ever pushed someone for quite this long, but I suppose Scully thinks Mulder was pushed and now he’s convinced of his own accord. At any rate, Mulder is thoroughly annoyed and responds bitingly, “Okay, look, you do me a favor, Scully. You give me a call when you think I’ve come to my senses, all right?” Man, I tell you, it is painful when they don’t trust each other.
At the hospital, Mulder is standing over Modell, who is strapped into a bed, with a respirator attached to his throat. A nurse comes in and says, kind of saucily, perhaps like she too thinks he’s insane, “Sir? I’m going to need to change the patient’s bandages?” Mulder leaves, asking her to call him if he wakes up. We see it’s actually Linda Bowman with a paper reading “NURSE” pinned to her blouse, and she whispers, “Yes, sir.” Dun dun DUN!
She sits on Modell’s hospital bed and takes his hand. “Bobby?” she asks, and his eyes open. “Why did you do it? I didn’t ask you to come after me.”
And OH! I’m dense. It’s only because I’m reading a transcript that goes into a bit of detail about it that I now understand what happens next. Modell tries to reply, but he can’t because of the tracheotomy until she puts her finger over the ‘exhaling port’. I totally thought she was starting to suffocate him or something. Give me some credit, though – I wasn’t too far off considering what she’s about to do. Anyway, Modell whispers weakly, “Don’t … don’t make a mistake.”
Linda Bowman says she’s not. After what they did, she won’t let them get away with it. She wants to finish what he started. Modell doesn’t want that, though. He gasps, “No… no, stop now.” I have to wonder – did Modell really have a change of heart or something? Otherwise, what was he trying to tell her here? I guess we’ll never know, but I am curious. Anyhow, he seems to be in pain. Linda looks sad, and says, “Bobby.” Then she says, firmly but gently, “You’re not in any pain. You feel wonderful. You’ve never felt better.” Modell’s face clears and he relaxes.
And if you were like, “Aww, that’s nice of her,” you might want to stop because then she goes on, “Your heart is slowing. It’s tired. It’s too worn out to keep beating. Let it rest.” Modell looks at her – I think he knows what she’s doing, but even if he didn’t want to die he couldn’t stop it. The machines start beeping, and Linda silences them.
Her eyes are teary as she leans on his chest. She says, “It slows. It slows.” Modell’s eyes close, and she finishes, “It stops.” Sure enough, the monitors show a flatline.
Mulder walks through the halls. However, a nurse running by catches his attention. He chases after her to Modell’s room, where a doctor is declaring the time of death. She apologizes to Mulder as she heads out. Mulder, dejected at losing his potential proof, walks into the room. He sees the pin Linda was wearing, and we see him make the connection. He flips it over. It reads, “294 Channel Avenue”, the address of the commercial property from earlier.
Ah ha, we have arrived at the climax. Mulder pulls up outside the building, and goes in cautiously. His flashlight on, he walks deeper in, when he hears Scully’s voice calling his name. She sounds scared. He runs toward her, turns a corner, and sees her standing there. She speaks dully. “You were right about her, Mulder.” Then she raises her gun and aims it at him. Mulder says her name, maybe trying to reason with her, but she says, “She’s making me do this,” and cocks the gun.
“Where is she?” Mulder asks urgently, and Scully tells him she’s here. Then she says, in a scared voice, “Mulder, make her stop. I can’t help myself.”
Mulder yells, “Linda Bowman!” and Scully begs him again to make her stop. It’s rather heartbreaking. He shouts, “Show yourself!” and then watches in absolute horror as Scully aims the gun at her own head. He runs toward her, shouting “NO!” at the top of his lungs – but she fires.
Desperately, gasping and open-mouthed, he puts his hands on her and feels for a sign of life. Then we hear footsteps approaching. It looks like Linda Bowman, dressed in dark clothes and carrying a gun at her side. Mulder stands up and grabs Scully’s gun from the terrifyingly large pool of blood beside her body. “I’m gonna kill you,” he grits furiously.
Linda raises her own gun and says, “Don’t listen to her, Mulder.”
Mulder, taken aback, says, “What?”
The woman replies, “It’s me. You were right about her. Linda Bowman is pushing you.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Mulder spits. I think we can cut him some slack for not getting it right away – his whole world just collapsed, after all, as far as he knows.
“Linda” insists, “I’m Scully. Linda’s right behind you. She’s telling you I’m her.”
But when Mulder looks down, all he sees is Scully in that huge pool of blood. He yells, “You killed her!”
The woman says, “Mulder, I’m Scully. I’m not dead. She wants you to shoot me. She knows you’ll never forgive yourself.” Awww. Boy, is that the truth.
Mulder is perhaps past listening now. He screams, “Shut up!” as Scully (because of course it’s her) tries to get through to him, “Listen to me! Your mother is Tina! Your sister is Samantha.” Mulder pauses, eyes wild, and she continues, “Modell warned you. Don’t play her game.”
A blurry figure comes up behind Mulder, and “Linda” fires. Mulder looks down – this time, it’s Linda Bowman who is on the floor, and when he looks back, Scully is there, gun raised. “Mulder?” Scully says, and the way her voice trembles, especially now that we know it’s actually her, really breaks my heart.
Mulder’s eyes look stunned and haunted. She comes over and touches his arm, then bends down to take Linda’s pulse. Of course, Linda’s not dead either. Sigh. She opens her eyes and speaks haltingly, but with menace. “You think you can hold me?”
Scully starts to stand up, gazing at Mulder with deep concern and care. Then she opens her phone and calls for an ambulance. Meanwhile, Mulder looks awful. He is pale and his eyes are wide, and he mouths soundlessly before the camera pulls away. Awwwww. Poor, poor traumatized and guilt-stricken Mulder.
We transition to a familiar-looking brain scan with a mass near the center. Skinner is examining it and they’re all in his office. He says, “Linda Bowman.”
Scully exposits that Linda Bowman has an advanced temporal lobe tumor, just like Modell’s, and it seems to run in the family. Skinner looks surprised, and she goes on that they were fraternal twins. Oh, give me a break. AGH. Can’t twins ever just be two people who happened to be born on the same day? Please? Must they always, always have something creepy about them?? Sigh. Anyway, yeah, yadda yadda, Modell wanted to protect his sister, who only found out about his existence about six months ago because they were separated two weeks after birth and raised apart. Ugh.
Mulder hasn’t spoken as Scully continues that the “fox hunt” was a kind of revenge for what she and Mulder did to her brother. Skinner pointedly asks Mulder if there’s anything he wants to add. He just says that about covers it, and they both get up to leave. Skinner asks Mulder to stay a moment, though. Scully turns at the door and meets Mulder’s eye, and he gives her a little nod. She leaves and Mulder turns to face Skinner.
Skinner gets up from his desk and goes to stand in front of him. “I just want to say, you did a good job.”
Mulder, more than a hint of bitterness in his voice, asks, “How’s that?”
“Nobody could have figured this out but you. You knew it was Linda Bowman and not Modell. You were way ahead of me,” Skinner says.
Mulder, barely hearing that, just responds, “I almost killed my partner.”
Skinner sighs a little. “Mulder, despite that, you prevailed. You won her game.”
Mulder nods a little, and looks pained. “Then how come I feel like I lost?” Skinner doesn’t have anything to say to that, and Mulder leaves. Aww, Mulder.
Recap by Mack the Spoon
