SEASON 1

SEASON 2

SEASON 3

SEASON 4

SEASON 5

FIGHT THE FUTURE

SEASON 6

SEASON 7

SEASON 8

SEASON 9

< PREVIOUS

Mulder gets up and snarks that Bill is “probably one of those people that thinks Elvis is dead.” Scully, trying not to smile, says, “Mulder, I was wrong. Exposure to the insecticide does induce paranoia.” Heeeeee. Mulder gives perhaps the briefest of eyerolls in response. He's not quite used to her teasing him yet, I think. But she's not done yet, because as Mulder insists that the area is being subjected to a controlled experiment, she asks who is controlling it, and suggests the government, a corporation, and then reticulans. Hee. I'd feel sorry for Mulder because he is pretty much right, of course, but I'm not because, well, he's always right.

But Mulder is undeterred (as usual) and points out that they've done it before, with DDT and Agent Orange. Scully doesn't deny this but inquires as to why “they” would “intentionally create a population that destroys itself”. Mulder has an answer for this one – fear. If the people are distracted by fear and paranoia, they won't see the actions of those above.

Bill comes back in just then and announces that he's talked Larry into a compromise. The spraying will stop immediately, and the residents of areas that have been sprayed will have blood tests. But the official explanation cannot be linked to LSDM. Mulder sits down, not totally satisfied.

The TV announces that Franklin and Fanego counties are participating in a cholesterol study, and volunteers will be coming around to houses or you can report to Franklin Community General. The announcer calls the procedure “simple and painless”, which, uh, even if you're not phobic of blood, blood tests aren't exactly painless. I guess in this case, the announcer says it's just a finger prick, but still. I find that almost the most painful part of donating blood, because my finger always gets bruised. Anyway, we see that it's Ed who's watching the ad, and he looks distinctly nervous, especially when the ad shows the drop of blood on someone's finger. Also, he has a lot of ammo and a large gun. Oh dear.

The doorbell buzzes, and Ed jumps. He looks out the window and sees a woman who appears to be a volunteer for the 'cholesterol screening'. She rings the doorbell again. There's that dramatic chime! He pulls the curtains shut, and then glances at the TV screen. It is black except for white letters spelling out “BLOOD”. The letters seem to grow larger, and Ed gets distraught. Finally he picks up the television and smashes it on the floor, where it shatters. Meanwhile, the nurse continues to press on the doorbell. I've heard it's actually spelling out “kill” in Morse code, but don't quote me on that. Regardless, she's being awfully persistent. Doesn't she know it's rude to ring the doorbell that many times?

Ed covers his ears and whimpers, then goes over to his gun case. A calculator or something falls out of it, and when he picks it up, guess what it says? If you guessed “BLOOD”, you are correct. This causes him to whimper pathetically again, and smash it violently to the floor. Then his watch goes off, and when he looks at it, it directs him, “KILL”.

Cut to Bill in the sheriff's office, finishing up a phone conversation. Once he's done, he shows Mulder and Scully a map of the areas that have been tested. Most areas have tested negative, I assume for blood traces of the spray? But there are 25 names that haven't checked in for whatever reason.

With only seven more to go, Mulder and Scully reach Ed Funsch on their list. They're at his house. They might ring his doorbell, but as Scully remarks upon, it's ripped off. Mulder wonders if it was a frustrated Jehovah's Witness, and Scully realizes the door is unlocked. Mulder goes in first, unholstering his gun. The room looks trashed. I just have to comment that Scully is wearing an extremely shapeless red coat, and how long is it before she wears anything flattering, again? Sigh. At any rate, they exchange significant looks at seeing all the broken electronic equipment, and then Mulder opens the gun case and looks rather unnerved to see it empty.

The next shot is with a bunch of cops going over the scene. Bill is there as Scully hands Mulder the case file on Ed. He's 52, with no diploma, car or driver's license, used to be in the navy, lost his wife ten years ago. How cheery. Plus the whole just been laid off thing. And oddly, he has no recent medical history, having not seen a doctor in years.

Mulder asks when the blood tester was here, and Bill says it was about 10:30. Mulder checks the broken watch – it stopped around 10:30. Mulder mutters, “The blood test,” and then says he knows what Ed is afraid of, and where he's going now.

Cut to a bus with the destination reading “Franklin Community General Hospital”. A few people get off, and it pulls away from the curb, but then we hear Ed yelling frantically for it to stop. The driver says, “All right, all right,” as Ed bangs on the door. It opens and he pays his fare, then sits down. He stares around, then sees that the readout on the fare machine has changed to “THEY'RE WAITING” (chime). He leans over to look closer. “GET OFF”. He hops up and asks to get off, but the driver tells him to wait for the next stop.

“Please,” Ed begs, “I'm on the wrong bus!” When the driver repeats for him to wait, Ed goes from nervous to absolutely freakin' crazy in less than five seconds flat, yelling and swearing for him to open the door. It's really quite impressive. And scary.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Bill reports that there's only one more bus he could be on, and it's the one that's coming up right now. Scully says the uniforms should get out of sight. All three of them accordingly draw their weapons and hide, but of course Ed is not among those who get off the bus. Mulder walks over to the bus just before it leaves, and shows him his ID through the door. He then asks if he's seen Ed, showing him a picture of him. The driver confirms that he was on the bus for “about four feet, then he went ape-wire.” Mulder learns that he was dropped off near the college. Scully suggests they wait him out, but Mulder doesn't think that's a good idea. The big banner on the building for a blood drive at the college seems to give him another idea, though.