You guys, it’s all kicking off. E.B.E. has me tearing strips off the wall.
Young at Heart
But first, an insight into Mulder’s first case. This one is fairly slight (especially compared to the one which follows it) but we get a decent chunk of backstory and an idea of just how far Mulder’s disappeared into his outlandish theories since he was a rookie.
A serial killer long presumed dead starts leaving Mulder taunting notes. The culprit is a particularly nasty murderer named John Barnett, who he helped put away in his very first case out of the academy. The case dredges up some unpleasant memories as Barnett killed an agent and a hostage before they could take him in, and all while Mulder had his gun trained and ready to shoot. He didn’t shoot, it transpires, as doing so would have meant endangering the life of a hostage and such is against FBI regulations. Amusingly, Scully notes this immediately when she looks over CCTV footage of Barnett’s capture. Mulder wouldn’t go against the book, but this is the same guy who was getting in touch with his inner Rambo in the woods a few episodes back. Mind, that said, if one thing has become clear about him over the course of the season it’s that he is completely devoted to protecting the innocent, so his not taking the shot makes perfect sense in that light.
Mulder gave evidence against Barnett at the trial. He’s still tortured about the deaths of the agent and hostage and, during a flashback, reveals that he lost his cool in the witness box and exclaimed that Barnett deserved to die. Barnett threatened that he’d “get” Mulder and the agent who called them in to consult, Reggie Purdue, reckons someone’s using this to mess with his head. Purdue was Mulder’s handler on the case and knows how beat up he is over it. Scully agrees and theorises that Barnett must have planned the attacks and notes with someone on the outside before he died. It’s a perfectly rational theory, but comes undone when the notes are analysed and the handwriting identified as Barnett’s. Scully puts on her thinking cap and starts digging round the medical records. Unsurprisingly, there are some irregularities. Barnett is listed as having died from a heart attack four years earlier, but at the time he’d only been admitted to hospital for an infection in his right hand. A physical six months before his death gave him a clean bill of health and listed no signs of cardiac distress. The records also reveal that Barnett was cremated and his will left all his belongings to a fellow prisoner, Joe Crandall.
Crandall, for his part, doesn’t believe Barnett’s dead. He tells them that on the night Barnett is supposed to have died, he discovered a doctor working on him in a dark room in the middle of the night. This was shown in the opening sting – Barnett appeared to be conscious (albeit with an amputated hand and cloudy eyes) and blinked at Crandall. The plot thickens when Mulder starts getting threatening phone calls essentially warning him that everyone he knows will be killed. This hits home in the worst way when Reggie is murdered WHILE ON THE PHONE WITH MULDER. A note left at the scene reads “Funeral for Fox’s friends – then for Fox.” Oy. Could the evildoers of the world back off, or something? This guy’s already got enough emotional baggage to fill three psych theses.
Mulder is readily convinced that Barnett – and not any copycat or accomplice – is the culprit. To be fair, even Scully’s suspicions are piqued at this stage. She continues investigating the medical side of things and discovers that the doctor who signed Barnett’s death cert was struck off for gross malpractice. The doctor, Ridley, was investigating an extremely rare disease called progeria, which causes vastly accelerated aging so that victims die of what amounts to old age when they’re still children. (Side note: this is a real disease, and the clip they shown of a patient in the show was real. Horribly sad.) She and Mulder consult with another doctor, who advises them that Ridley was struck off when he went against AMA rulings and began human trials on an experimental treatment. He disappeared after the disciplinary action but is believed to have gone to South America to continue his work. (He was also nicknamed Dr. Mengele, in keeping with the Nazi overtones.)
Essentally, Ridley claimed to have found a way to reverse the aging process and was using this to treat progeria. Scully dismisses the notion outright as pure science fiction. Her partner, of course, latches onto it and theorises that Barnett may have found a way to reverse his aging and look younger, which would give him the perfect disguise. Mulder is proven right when Ridley unceremoniously shows up at Scully’s door later that week – interrupting what appears to be Barnett, creeping around in the shadows and preparing to attack her. Ridley fills them in on his experiments, explaining that Barnett was the sole survivor and that he’d basically been able to grow a new hand to replace the one amputated. However, the hand had to be grown from salamander DNA as this was what Ridley used in his research. Then comes our conspiracy theory of the week: the government contacted Ridley after he was struck off and funded additional research. Mulder goes straight to Deep Throat with this and, to his horror, is informed that not only did the government fund said research but they’re now attempting to buy it back from Barnett. Deep Throat attempts to reason with him on this and says the information could change the course of mankind, but has about as much success as you’d expect.
Mulder’s already feeling angsty and irritable when Scully walks in the next day, brandishing her answering machine. Earlier that day, she came out of the shower to discover someone playing back her messages. She had the machine examined and Barnett’s prints were pulled off it. Mulder then gets a call from Barnett, who threatens to take out all of his friends (I giggled, cos I don’t think he has that many) and starts cackling like a teenager about how it’s the land of the free and no one can stop him. Whatevs, bruh.
One of Scully’s messages was from a friend arranging to meet with her before a cello recital. They head to the venue for the recital and decide to use Scully as bait for Barnett. Mulder warns everyone not to let her out of their sight (sigh) but Barnett still manages to take them by surprise and shoot her in the chest. She’s wearing a bulletproof vest and all is well, but Mulder takes off after him. Barnett runs to the stage and grabs the cellist, holding a gun to her in an exact re-thread of their previous showdown. Mulder’s got a shot, but Barnett has to be taken alive as he’s the only one who knows where Ridley’s research is. He takes a moment, adjusts his aim (side note: my DVD froze up on this episode for some reason so I got it on Netflix and look how GREEN Mulder’s eyes are in HD, holy shizzle) and this time takes the shot and hits his target. Scully’s grand, the hostage is grand, Mulder’s got a tiny bit of closure but now Barnett is bleeding out on the ground.
There follows a somewhat farcical scene in which Barnett is being operated on while an agent angrily barks at him to try and find out where the research is. To no avail. Barnett flatlines without saying anything (on account of being unconscious) and as the doctors step away from his body we see a webbed salamander hand. Gross. No dignity in death here.
The episode ends with Mulder reflecting on how the book ain’t always right, and that they may not have seen the last of Barnett. This plays over a shot of a locker in a railway station, so one imagines the research is hidden in there.
A note: the CIA agent yelling at comatose Barnett is apparently the Cigarette Smoking Man, which I didn’t realise until googling the episode. Between this and Ridley’s research still being at large, I suspect we may revisit these events in future.
E.B.E.
LADS. THIS WAS SO CLASS. I have a vague notion that a commenter on one of my previous recaps said this was their favourite from season 1 and I can totally see why.
E.B.E. stands for “extraterrestrial biological entity” and such is what our heroes spend most of their time chasing in this episode. It reminds me of a part in Taken (does anyone remember Taken?) where a convoy of trucks and helicopters escort the remnants of an alien craft across the U.S. Presumably Taken borrowed inspiration from the same urban legends, but TXF‘s take on it is particularly memorable.
After an opening sting in which a possible UFO is shot down on the Iraq/Turkey border, we find ourselves back in Tennessee. A trucker is making his way cross-country, listening to reports of UFO sightings on the radio. Suddenly, the radio blacks out, then the truck dies and comes rolling to a shaky halt. The driver gets out clutching a shotgun – because apparently The Fast and the Furious was not lying in its depiction of truckers packing – and shoots at something in the distance, as a giant grey mothership floats by overhead. Eep!
The next day, Mulder and Scully arrive to interview the trucker. He’s disorientated, contradicts his earlier statements to police, and appears to have burns to his face along with a nasty cough. Scully asks how long he’s had the cough and wonders if he’s a veteran, which he angrily rejects. The cops then burst in and kick them out, refusing them permission to look over the truck in the process. They’re not impressed but head off and continue their investigation back at HQ. Noting Scully’s remarks about whether the trucker was a veteran, Mulder points out that UFO sightings are much more frequent in wartime and proposes dropping in on an “extreme government watchdog group” for more info. This group are your average basement-dwelling conspiracy theorists and to be honest, they’re kinda gross. One of them keeps calling Scully “hot” to her face and they talk a lot about a government within a government controlling our every move. I reiterate what I said in an earlier recap about present-day Mulder and Reddit. Anyway, Scully immediately dismissed them as delusional once she and Mulder get back to the office, but then swiftly discovers what appears to be a bug in her pen.
Mulder goes to Deep Throat, who gives him a transcript from the crash in the opening scene. This reveals that both wreckage and bodies were recovered from the crash site. Scully, for her part, discovers the truck and trucker are bogus. The weight measurements for the truck were off, suggesting there was something else inside which wasn’t noted on the manifest. The trucker’s name is actually Frank Druce, though he’d given his name as Ranheim. And, shock horror, he is indeed a veteran – of special operations in Iraq. Mulder all but has an aneurysm and announces that the truck must have been carrying the body from the Iraqi crash site. At this point, I have to say I’m actually excited for him. He was *this* close to getting confirmation of all his suspicions, only for the powers that be to cruelly snatch it away.
Sad face.
We’ll be coming back to that.
He comes back to his apartment that night to find Deep Throat, who gives him a photo from the night the truck was stopped. It shows a ridiculously artificial-looking craft hanging in the sky above a military figure, and when he shows it to Scully the next day she can tell it’s fake straight away. Seriously guys. The alleged spacecraft looks like a blob of jam.
Deep Throat later says that their “very best” prepared this photo, so evidently their “very best” are completely useless.
Mulder, his childhood ideations shattering before his eyes, takes longer to come round to the notion of it being fake. This prompts a beautiful exchange between the two of them – Scully had, upon discovery of the bug in her pen, informed him that he’s the only one she trusts and now launches into an impassioned tirade which absolutely bears repeating in its entirety:
“I have never met anyone so passionate and dedicated to a belief as you. It’s so intense that sometimes it’s blinding…but others are watching, and whereas I can respect and admire your passion, they will use it against you. Mulder, the truth is out there, but so are lies.”
Sob.
His response to this beautiful, earnest address? “Thank you.” Dammit Fox! You jackass. Respect your magnificent partner when she tries to protect you.
Mulder does at least decide to have the photo analysed, and this confirms it’s fake. He looks like someone’s just run over his dog. He meets Deep Throat and lets him have it, but Deep Throat shoots back that he and Scully had to be diverted because they’re excellent investigators and their motives are just. In other words, they’d tell the people what they found, and the people aren’t ready for this particular bomb to be dropped. He also says he’s spent years watching Mulder to be absolutely sure he’s the one he could trust. He tells him to keep swimming. (Literally – this is a metaphor about sharks needing to keep swimming or they’ll die. They’re in an aquarium.)
Anyway, Scully’s figured out where the truck’s going, so they take a roundabout route to Washington state and lose their tails en route. There, they catch up with the truck and get caught up in what appears to be a UFO visit – there’s the token flash of light, a downpour of hail, and the truck rolls to a halt in front of them. But it’s empty. There’s no driver, and though the back of it contains what looks like a gurney for transporting a body, Mulder’s readings suggest it’s a hoax. Most notable at this point is Scully’s being entirely swept up in the UFO spiel and even asks her partner if what happened “fits the profile”. Telling that a passionate quest to unearth the truth is what convinces her. I mean, I expect this POV may be fleeting, but I’m still so proud.
Mulder calls some UFO hotlines to get more info. He learns that there’s lots of activity at the moment and all are reporting sightings at a spot about 100 miles from where they stopped with the truck. They head over and find a UFO party in full swing, just outside a power plant. From a distance they spot Ranheim, which is enough to convince them this is where the body’s been taken. Mulder calls his conspiracy theorist crew from earlier and they get fake access codes (which actually work, stunningly enough) to go in and snoop around.
The final scenes unfold in a manic rush and they’re revealing in the extreme. A guard stops the two of them inside the plant, but Mulder breaks away and barges down a door marked “Level 6 access”. (Thumbs up if you thought of Agents of SHIELD!) He’s pursued by a group of military types but makes it to the basement, where he finds what I can only describe as giant smarties tubs –
– standing over a metal container. There’s a window in the side with what looks like infrared lighting. He approaches it, but is stopped by the guards. Then, of all people, DEEP THROAT appears and calls them off.
Now lads, I know we’re near the end of season 1 and things had to come to a head and everything, but the story Deep Throat relates now is stupefying. First off, he tells Mulder not to bother looking inside the container because “it” is dead. Secondly, he says there was a council before the Cold War at which a group of countries decided that in the event of an extra-terrestrial crash the country holding the being would be responsible for its extermination (the group of countries involved were the usual suspects, and as a resident of a tiny country can I just point out that I resent the same few people always deciding things for the rest of the world) (see also: SHIELD’s “World” Security Council, which comprises what, four countries?). He goes on to say that he is one of only three men to have killed a UFO before. One was shot down in Vietnam (OF COURSE IT WAS) and brought to him by Marines, and he still harbours guilt over having to shoot something that looked at him all trustingly and innocent. He came to Mulder to atone for what he did, and he hopes that someday, through him, the truth will be known.
!!!!!!!
Mulder looks into the container anyway and finds it empty. When Deep Throat asks why he’s quiet, he says he’s wondering which lie to believe. They head outside, and Scully catches up with them just as Deep Throat wanders off into the nighttime fog.
You guys. THE F*CK.
What are we supposed to believe?! Is Deep Throat lying? Is it all a big diversion tactic? The entire episode was based round a misinformation campaign, and there’s no actual tangible evidence of any extra-terrestrial body ever being present. Mulder talked about people in the Bureau using his beliefs against him. Deep Throat could just be a good actor, which considering his position in government is probably a pre-requisite. Mulder’s all stunned and numb and horrified and has no idea what to think. He just about got confirmation of his suspicions, only to be informed that government policy is to exterminate UFOs on sight. I can’t even imagine what impact this must have on his psyche. These are the same UFOs he believes took his sister, after all. What if they came to bring her back? What if by killing them the government has prompted some kind of retaliatory campaign? What if that’s why they took her? What if they came back with information on her whereabouts and were shot and killed before they could try to communicate? WHAT THE EFF. Ready the psych chair methinks.
Oh and once again Scully missed everything. Obviously this is not a coincidence – Deep Throat is quite adamant that he’ll only give out info to Mulder…yet he must know Mulder shares it with his partner anyway. I think she’ll have a hard time rationalising this, though again it’s worth pointing out that there was nothing there (aside from the giant smarties) (and I don’t know what they are – power generators?) for either of them to see. Is she becoming more open to this topsy-turvy world of UFOs and institutionalised mayhem? Even if she doesn’t believe in the aliens part, Dana is intelligent enough to know something’s being covered up. She has the integrity and moral conviction to pursue that. She did remark in an earlier episode that the government has a right to keep certain secrets, but that was way back in the season, and all sorts of shenanigans have come out since then. That’s probably the most striking thing – it’s been clear from the off that something’s not quite right, but there’s such a noticeable shift in tone here that I feel faint. It’s one thing to have suspicions of clandestine carry-on and quite another to have your government source look you in the eye and say he shot an alien in the face. Before, there was laughter and Spooky Mulder jokes. Now we’ve hit the wall of intrigue head on and everything seems fraught.
Oy. The truth is truly out there.
I want to believe.
Grace Duffy is a pop culture devotée and sometime film critic currently catching up on her classic sci-fi. You can read more on her blog, Tumblr, or catch her frequent TV liveblogs on Twitter.
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