Story Code '#4X23'
by R.W. Goodwin
|
'Demons' Story Code '#4X23' by R.W. Goodwin |
|
SCENE 1 - FLASHBACK. MULDER HOUSEHOLD. NIGHT.
(Note: All flashbacks are over-exposed and full of jump-cuts and disjointed images)
(SAMANTHA, as a child, wakes MULDER, as an adult)
SAMANTHA:
Fox! Wake up. Fox!
MULDER:
Samantha?
SAMANTHA:
Shh. They'll hear you.
(MULDER gets up and looks in a mirror; he sees himself as a young boy. He and SAMANTHA head for the stairs, and see their parents arguing in the living room below)
MRS. MULDER:
No! My baby!
SAMANTHA:
I'm afraid, Fox. I'm afraid.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
SCENE 2. HOTEL ROOM. NIGHT
MULDER wakes up from the nightmare. Disorientated, he realises that his shirt is covered with blood.
SCENE 3. SCULLY’S APARTMENT. NIGHT
(The clock reads 4:50. The phone rings. SCULLY turns over in bed and answers)
SCULLY:
Hello?
MULDER:
Scully.
SCULLY:
Mulder, what time is it?
(Cut to MULDER)
MULDER:
I don't know.
SCULLY: (O.O.V.)
It's almost five a.m. Is something wrong?
MULDER:
I think so.
SCULLY: (O.O.V.)
Where are you?
MULDER:
I think I'm in a... (Looks at key fob) a motel room in Providence, but...
(Cut to SCULLY)
SCULLY:
Where?
MULDER:
Rhode Island.
SCULLY:
What are you doing there?
(Cut to MULDER)
MULDER:
I don't know. There's... t-there's blood all over me.
(Cut to SCULLY)
SCULLY:
Are you hurt, Mulder?
(Cut to MULDER)
MULDER:
I don't think so. I don't think it's my blood.
OPENING TITLES
SCENE 4 - PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, APRIL 12,6:15 AM
(SCULLY drives her car along a street and pulls up at a hotel. She gets out and knocks on Room number 6)
SCULLY:
Mulder? Mulder? Mulder?
(SCULLY opens the door and walks in cautiously)
MULDER: (O.O.V.)
Yeah?
SCULLY:
You okay?
MULDER:(O.O.V.)
I can't get warm.
(SCULLY enters bathroom to find MULDER curled up on the floor of the shower, shaking badly)
SCULLY:
You're in shock.
(She turns off the taps and gets MULDER a towel)
SCULLY:
Dry yourself off. I'll get you a blanket.
(MULDER wraps himself in the towel and joins SCULLY who is sitting on the end of the bed)
SCULLY:
Do you feel sick? Nauseous or dizzy?
MULDER:
N-no, but I, uh... I woke up on the floor with a pounding headache.
SCULLY:
Were you here alone?
MULDER:
I think so. I don't know. I don't remember anything.
SCULLY:
Track my finger. (She moves her finger in front of his face) Do you know what day it is?
MULDER:
Uh... No, what day is it?
SCULLY:
It's Sunday. What's the last thing that you remember?
MULDER:
I was in my apartment. I talked to you on the phone.
SCULLY:
That was Friday.
MULDER:
I've been here since Friday?
SCULLY:
I don't know, but you packed a bag. There's a change of clothes in there. Do you feel any pain? Did you receive a blow to your head?
MULDER:
No. No.
SCULLY:
Did you take anything, Mulder?
MULDER:
No. No.
(SCULLY checks the room and finds MULDER’s shirt covered in blood on the floor)
SCULLY:
Are you sure you didn't cut yourself?
MULDER:
Yeah.
SCULLY:
Where's your weapon?
MULDER:
I don't know.
(They look around. SCULLY finds the weapon on the top of the dresser. She cracks the gun open)
SCULLY:
Two rounds have been fired.
MULDER:
I don't remember that.
SCULLY:
Mulder, I need to get you to a hospital. You have to be examined by a neurologist. You have had a serious cerebral event. It could be a viral infection, or possibly the early stages of encephalitis.
MULDER:
If there was a crime committed, I need to know what happened.
SCULLY:
Mulder, the first thing that you need to do, is to take care of yourself.
(MULDER gets up)
SCULLY:
Mulder, listen to me. We are going to figure this out, but first, we have to determine the cause. You cannot take something like this lightly. If this is an aneurysm, it could drop you in a second.
MULDER:
Are these your keys? (Holds them up)
SCULLY:
No.
(CU key-ring: it says ‘AMY’)
SCENE 5 - EXT. HOTEL
(Later. SCULLY leaves manager’s office and rejoins MULDER outside his room)
SCULLY:
You checked in alone around noon on Saturday. The manager's got no record of any phone calls made from the room. No visitors.
MULDER:
Well, then, how did I get here?
SCULLY goes to a nearby car)
SCULLY:
You drove. He's got a license number of a car registered. (She looks inside and sees blood over the steering wheel) Do you have those keys you found in your room?
MULDER:
That's not my car.
SCULLY:
There's blood on the steering wheel, Mulder.
SCULLY opens door and checks inside glove box. She pulls out a driver’s licence)
SCULLY:
Car's registered under a David Cassandra. The address is right here in Providence.
MULDER:
Who's Amy?
SCULLY:
That's what I'm gonna find out, Mulder, but first, I'm checking you out, because you have no business even walking around here.
MULDER:
No, Scully. If I've shot someone, if my weapon's been used in a crime, I need to know.
SCULLY:
You are taking a big risk, Mulder. I feel strongly about this.
MULDER:
I know you do, but it's my risk.
SCENE 6 - INT. ROOM
(A room covered with photographs. A MAN is writing on some photographs, as blood drips down his face)
SCENE 7 - EXT.CASSANDRA RESIDENCE, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
(MULDER and SCULLY arrive and knock on front door. There is no answer, and MULDER is about to try the key when a WOMAN opens the door)
WOMAN:
Can I help you?
MULDER:
Are you Amy?
WOMAN:
No, she's not here right now.
SCULLY:
Is this David Cassandra's house?
WOMAN:
This is Dave and Amy's house.
MULDER:
And who are you?
WOMAN:
I'm the housekeeper. Who are you?
SCULLY:
We're with the FBI.
WOMAN:
Why do you have Amy's keys? Is something the matter?
SCULLY:
Possibly. Is Amy or David reachable in anyway?
MULDER spots a painting of a house in the hallway)
WOMAN:
They're out right now. I don't know where they are.
MULDER:
That, uh, painting... behind you. Uh... do you think I could take a look at it?
WOMAN:
Yeah.
MULDER and SCULLY enter. The WOMAN closes the door behind them)
MULDER:
Who painted this?
WOMAN:
Amy.
SCULLY:
Mulder, what's up?
MULDER:
I know this house.
SCULLY:
How?
MULDER:
I don't know. I've seen it before. Does this house have any special meaning to Amy or David?
WOMAN:
I know it's her favourite subject. It's the house that she grew up in. Actually, it's all she paints.
The WOMAN opens the doors to a room, which is revealed to be filled with paintings of the house. MULDER and SCULLY follow her inside)
MULDER:
I've been to that house.
SCULLY:
When?
MULDER:
I don't know, but I've been there.
SCULLY:
Do you know anything else about this house?
WOMAN:
I know it's out in Chepachet.
SCULLY:
Where's that?
MULDER:
It's about twenty miles from here, on route eight. My parents had a summer house out there when I was a kid, in Rhode Island.
(Mix from a CU of the painting to:
SCENE 8 - EXT. SUMMER HOUSE, RHODE ISLAND
MULDER and SCULLY drive up to the house from the painting)
SCULLY:
If you've been here, Mulder I don't think it was any time recently. The place looks abandoned and completely overgrown.
MULDER clutches his head with his hand)
SCULLY:
Mulder? Mulder?! Do you hear me? Mulder? Mulder?
SCENE 9 - FLASHBACK. INT. MULDER HOUSEHOLD. NIGHT
(MULDER, first as an adult then as a child, walks down the hallway of his parents’ house. He sees his FATHER, who, seeing his son, shuts the door to the room he and his wife are arguing in. A YOUNG CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN then appears)
MRS. MULDER: (O.O.V.)
How can you do this to our family?!
MR. MULDER: (O.O.V.)
I'm not doing it! It's not just me. These orders are coming down from...
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
You're a little spy.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
SCENE 10 - EXT. SUMMER HOUSE, RHODE ISLAND
MULDER is lying on the ground)
SCULLY:
Mulder? Mulder, can you hear me? What happened?
MULDER:
I don't know. It just hit me.
SCULLY:
You fell to your knees and you grabbed your head, like you were in terrible pain. You were completely non-responsive. Do you remember any of that?
MULDER:
No. I remember what I saw.
SCULLY:
What do you mean, what you saw?
MULDER:
I had a very vivid flashback to my childhood. Except, I was there.
SCULLY:
Do you remember anything else?
MULDER:
No, just that it was very real.
(SCULLY helps MULDER to sit up)
SCULLY:
Your heart is racing.
MULDER:
What do you think it was?
SCULLY:
It was some kind of a seizure. Some kind of acute physiological disturbance. I couldn't tell if you lost consciousness but, it was definitely some kind of clonic event. Kind of an electrical storm in the brain.
MULDER:
Brought on by what?
SCULLY:
That's what a specialist is going to have to tell you, Mulder.
MULDER:
I feel really good right now. (He stands)
SCULLY:
Mulder, you are not really good.
(They walk to the front door and enter. The house has not been lived in for years, and is in a mess)
MULDER:
I think I've been here before.
SCULLY:
What, in your childhood?
MULDER:
Maybe.
SCULLY:
I don't think anybody's lived here in a long time.
MULDER:
I'm going to check upstairs.
(MULDER goes upstairs, while SCULLY looks in the living room)
SCULLY:
Mulder.
MULDER rejoins her. There is a body on the floor: Amy)
SCULLY:
There's a gunshot wound to her heart. This must be Amy Cassandra. And her husband.
(Another body. MULDER walks over and checks it)
SCENE 11 - EXT. SUMMER HOUSE, RHODE ISLAND
(Medics are removing the bodies. SCULLY leaves a grip of people and rejoins MULDER, who is sitting in the passenger seat of their car)
SCULLY:
They'd like to ask you some questions. I told them about your condition. You don't have to speak to them if you don't want to.
MULDER:
You mean, not without my attorney present?
SCULLY:
Mulder, I refuse to believe that you had any part in this.
MULDER:
I had those people's blood on shirt, Scully. I was missing for two days. I have no recollection of my actions during those two days. There were two rounds discharged from my gun. I had the keys to this house, the keys to their car. Do the words ‘Orenthal James Simpson’ mean anything to you?
(Officer CURTIS joins them)
CURTIS:
How you feeling, Agent Mulder?
MULDER:
I'm a little confused.
CURTIS:
Your partner says you're suffering from some kind of a seizure, that you had one right here in the yard. What brought you to this house, Agent Mulder?
MULDER:
I don't know. I, uh... I think I may have come here as a kid.
CURTIS:
You think?
MULDER:
Well, my parents had a summer house in Quonochontaug, so...
CURTIS:
But you don't know anything about David or Amy Cassandra, the victims?
MULDER:
I don't ever remember meeting them, no.
CURTIS:
So what you're saying, then, is: the first time you saw them was when you walked into this house, using their keys, and you found them there on the floor.
MULDER:
That's what I'm saying.
CURTIS:
We got plenty of prints in that house. Some with blood on them. Now, we're going to run those prints, agent Mulder. Is that the story you want to stick with?
MULDER:
For now.
CURTIS:
Would you like to come down to the station, and elaborate on that statement?
SCULLY:
Agent Mulder's not going anywhere but to a hospital.
CURTIS:
Okay. But we're all going down there together. Agent Mulder, I'd like you to ride with us.
(CURTIS walks away)
SCULLY:
Mulder, I'd advise you not to say anything more-not until I take a look at those bodies and the forensics reports.
MULDER walks off and accompanies CURTIS)
SCENE 12 - INT. PATHOLOGY LAB
(There is a body on the slab. The M.E. and SCULLY are in the process of examining it)
M.E.:
Amy Anne Cassandra, Caucasian female. Birth records indicate her age at sixty-two years. The subject is a-hundred-and-sixty-five pounds, sixty-seven inches in height. Preliminary exam indicates cause of death due to a gunshot wound to the chest. Powder burns and flashing at the point of entry, approximately four inches below the clavicle, indicating the shot was delivered at point-blank range. Dorsal bevelling of the shoulder blade is visible at the exit wound. The surrounding tissue is jagged and torn. There are no other signs of trauma present on the body.
SCULLY notices a bloody mark on the body’s head)
M.E.:[ONLY IN C.C.]
Rigor mortis is present in the extremities...]
SCULLY:
Did you see this?
M.E.:
Yeah. From the scabbing, it looks like a pre-existing, superficial puncture wound.
SCULLY:
Do you mind?
M.E.:
What are you looking for?
SCULLY:
I'm not sure. (She removes some of the blood) Do you have a magnifying glass?
(The M.E. hands her one)
SCULLY:
Thanks. I just want to make sure that in addition to the autopsy, you also do a craniotomy and a histological examination.
(There is a cut in the scalp)
M.E.:
I think it's clear what killed these people.
SCULLY:
Yeah. I think it is, too, but what I'm more interested in right now is why they died.
SCENE 13 - INT. POLICE INTERROGATION ROOM
MULDER sits alone at a table. CURTIS enters and puts a paper bag down on the table)
MULDER:
What's that?
CURTIS:
Have you jogged your memory at all, agent Mulder? You wanna change your story?
MULDER:
No. Why?
CURTIS:
Because I have evidence here that contradicts what it is you've told us. (Holds up bag and the puts it down on table)
MULDER:
Well, I haven't really told you anything.
CURTIS:
You told us you haven't been to that house since your childhood, and you didn't know Amy or David Cassandra.
MULDER:
And you're telling me what's in that bag is evidence that I'm a liar?
CURTIS:
I'm not saying you're a liar, Agent Mulder. I would like to believe that this memory lapse was real, and that you murdered these two people in some fit of blind insanity.
MULDER:
What's in the bag?
CURTIS:
It isn't your gun... which in our preliminary forensics analysis seems to be the murder weapon. Judging from the slugs we pulled from the floor and the wall, the execution-style point-blank range. (He sits) Is any of this coming back to you, Agent Mulder?
MULDER:
No. Can I see what's in the bag now?
CURTIS:
Be my guest.
(MULDER opens bag and takes out his bloody shirt)
CURTIS:
There are two blood types on that shirt, agent Mulder-one matching Amy Cassandra's, the other matching David Cassandra's. Is that your shirt, agent Mulder?
MULDER:
Yes.
CURTIS:
Can you explain to me how the blood of two people you claim not to know got onto your shirt?
MULDER:
No. What about the prints... in the house? Were they my prints? Look, you're not going to get a confession out of me, because I can't answer your questions, because I don't remember.
CURTIS:
You have the right to remain silent.
(MULDER closes his eyes in resignation)
CURTIS:
If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak with an attorney, and have an attorney present during questioning. If you so desire and cannot afford one, an attorney will be appointed for you without charge before questioning. You understand each of the rights I have explained to you?
SCENE 14 - INT. POLICE CELLS
(Dressed in an orange boiler suit, MULDER is taken under guard to see SCULLY)
SCULLY:
Mulder. I'm going to get you out of here.
MULDER:
You're a doctor, not a lawyer, Scully.
SCULLY:
Did you make a confession?
MULDER:
No. Only to my own ignorance.
SCULLY:
Detective Curtis, before you go through all that trouble, I need you to consider evidence that I think casts doubt on agent Mulder's involvement in this crime.
CURTIS:
What kind of evidence?
SCULLY:
Medical evidence. The toxicology report on Amy Cassandra indicates there was a rapid-acting anaesthetic called Ketamine in her system.
MULDER:
Ketamine? That's a veterinary drug, isn't it?
SCULLY:
Typically, but when ingested by a person, it can cause hallucinations.
CURTIS:
So?
SCULLY:
So, I went down to the hospital to go over agent Mulder's medical charts and his blood work, and there are traces of the same drug in his system.
MULDER:
How would that get there?
SCULLY:
Probably injected; there was a small bruise from an injection on Amy Cassandra's right hip. Now, I think if you were examined again, that we would find a corresponding puncture.
CURTIS:
Given by whom?
SCULLY:
I don't know, but the presence of such a powerful drug could explain his memory loss or the blackouts.
CURTIS:
Given the weight of all the other evidence... I think that's all that it explains. (He walks off)
MULDER:
Scully... you don't have to do this.
SCULLY:
Mulder, you have to help me out. There is nothing here that points directly to your guilt. I mean, unless somebody can show me with absolute certainty that you were holding the weapon that killed those two people, the rest of the narrative is far too convenient and suspect. The drug in your system already suggests other explanations.
MULDER:
What? That I was partying with a few senior citizens?
(CURTIS returns)
SCULLY:
You're jailing an innocent man.
CURTIS:
Yeah, well, this way he won't get lost for two days and do something else he won't remember.
(CURTIS takes MULDER away. A POLICEMAN enters and walks to an empty cell. He sits down and takes out a photograph of three women, then takes out a gun and holds it to his head. He shoots himself)
MAN: (O.O.V.)
Shot fired!
(Cut to SCULLY, as she and policemen race to the scene)
SCULLY:
I'm a doctor. (Checks body) Somebody call the paramedics. He's dead. (She sees the same bloody mark on his head as on the other body) I need to speak with detective Curtis right now.
SCENE 15 - INT. POLICEMAN’s HOUSE
(SCULLY and CURTIS enter. SCULLY looks at the photo, now covered in the POLICEMAN’s blood)
SCULLY:
Did this officer have a history of depression or mental illness?
CURTIS:
He'd been remanded from his beat assignment to a desk job a year ago. His former partner had complained on a number of occasions about his tendency toward extreme irritability, and confabulation of the truth.
SCULLY:
How do you mean?
CURTIS:
The man we're talking about had become something of a joke on the force, one of those guys who believes in... you know, extraterrestrials? Stuff like that.
SCULLY:
(Grunts) Do you see these photos?
CURTIS:
Yeah.
SCULLY:
Does this mean anything to you?
CURTIS:
Should it?
SCULLY:
Well, I think that it speaks to a pronounced mental illness. The compulsive and repetitive act of removing his own image from these photos leads me to believe that he not only believed these stories, but was traumatised by them.
CURTIS:
I thought you told me this was going to help explain something about your partner's crime. (Sees something) What's that?
(SCULLY holds up a copy of ‘Abductee’ magazine, with a woman on the cover)
SCULLY:
Amy Cassandra. Both your officer and Amy Cassandra had identical puncture wounds at the top of the frontal lobe. Now, in her autopsy, Amy Cassandra's was a deep puncture through the cranium to the dura matter.
CURTIS:
And my officer had the same thing?
SCULLY:
Yes. I think your officer knew of Amy Cassandra, and somehow his suicide is linked to her death, which leads me to believe that what we're dealing with here is not murder. It's something else. It's possibly even a suicide pact.
CURTIS:
You're going to have to prove that to me.
SCENE 16 - INT. MULDER’S CELL
(MULDER suddenly has another FLASHBACK. He sees his FATHER and the CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN talking. His FATHER sees MULDER and closes the door between them. MULDER climbs up a ladder and joins SAMANTHA. They look back downstairs and see their parents and the CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN arguing. MR. MULDER looks up at them)
MRS. MULDER:
Not Samantha! Not Samantha! No! My baby!
(END OF FLASHBACK. MULDER rushes to the bars of his cell)
MULDER:
Guard! Guard! I need to talk to someone! Guard!
SCENE 16 - INT. POLICE CELLS
(SCULLY and CURTIS are talking)
CURTIS:
According to the corrections officer, agent Mulder kept everybody awake last night. He was demanding to talk to you. He finally shut up about an hour ago.
SCULLY:
Did he say about what?
CURTIS:
I think your partner's memories are coming back to him.
(They enter MULDER’s cell)
SCULLY:
I need to talk to him alone, if you don't mind.
(CURTIS walks out)
SCULLY:
I heard you didn't get much sleep.
MULDER:
I didn't kill those people, Scully.
SCULLY:
I know that, and I think I've gathered enough proof and evidence of your innocence to get you out of here.
MULDER:
From where?
SCULLY:
The forensics reports. (She sits next to MULDER) The, uh, the shirt that you were wearing did have the victims' blood on it, but the blood-spatter pattern doesn't match the point-of-entry detail. In fact, detective Curtis and his team have been able to put together enough contradictory evidence to make a statement to the press saying that the Cassandras’ death was as a result of a murder-suicide.
MULDER:
But I was there.
SCULLY:
Yes.
MULDER:
And I still don't remember why.
SCULLY:
I think I have an idea about that, too. Amy Cassandra believed that she was an alien abductee.
MULDER:
And I contacted her.
SCULLY:
Yes... apparently. According to an article I read on Amy, she had begun psychiatric treatment that was effectively recovering her past. The repetitive behaviour exhibited in those paintings that we saw, was an expression of that treatment.
MULDER:
But why shoot herself and her husband?
SCULLY:
I can't say definitively, but judging from an almost identical suicide of a police officer who was receiving the same psychiatric care, I believe that the victims were suffering from something called Waxman-Geschwind syndrome, the symptoms of which are trance-like states, leading to vivid dreams about the past- dreams that are more detailed than the conscious mind can recall. It's also called Dostoyevsky syndrome because the Russian novelist was suffering from it, too.
MULDER:
What was I doing there, Scully, and why didn't I do anything to stop it?
SCULLY:
I can't explain that. I've arranged for your arraignment in one hour. I think that by then, detective Curtis and I will have gathered enough forensics data that you'll be released.
MULDER:
I still need to know why, though.
SCENE 18 - EXT. STREET, WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND
(A car pulls up and MULDER and SCULLY get out)
SCULLY:
This is the office of the psychologist that treated Amy Cassandra. Have you been here before?
MULDER:
I don't know, but we found my car.
(They walk to the car. MULDER tries the door, while SCULLY runs her finger along the windscreen and notes the amount of dirt coating it)
SCULLY:
It's been here for a few days.
MULDER:
What was the name of that psychologist?
SCENE 19 - DOCTOR GOLDSTEIN’S OFFICE
(GOLDSTEIN is at his desk. There is a knock on the door)
GOLDSTEIN:
Hello.
(MULDER and SCULLY enter)
MULDER:
Doctor Goldstein? My name is Fox Mulder. Have we met?
GOLDSTEIN:
I don't believe so. My receptionist says you're from the FBI?
SCULLY:
Yes. We're investigating the deaths of Amy and David Cassandra. We understand that Amy was a patient of yours.
GOLDSTEIN:
Yes. Please, sit down.
(SCULLY sits, MULDER paces the room)
GOLDSTEIN:
I was very upset to learn about Amy. She was a troubled woman who'd struggled through an unfortunate period of darkness in her life.
SCULLY:
Are you referring to her belief that she was an abductee?
GOLDSTEIN:
This term ‘alien abductee..’. Although I recognise there is an associated syndrome, and a rather remarkable collection of shared experiences for those who believe in the phenomena, my treatment of Amy was simply an aggressive method to access buried or repressed memories.
MULDER:
How do you mean, ‘aggressive’?
GOLDSTEIN:
I use a method of therapy that simulates an electrical impulse in the brain, using light and sound.
SCULLY:
Did you also use this treatment on a police officer named Michael Fazekas?
GOLDSTEIN:
Yes. Why?
SCULLY:
Mr. Fazekas shot himself in the head last night.
GOLDSTEIN:
Oh, my god. (He sits)
MULDER:
Is this an accepted form of medical treatment?
GOLDSTEIN:
It's unconventional, but it's not invasive.
SCULLY:
Are you familiar with Waxman-Geschwind syndrome?
GOLDSTEIN:
Yes.
SCULLY:
Did you know Amy Cassandra suffered from it?
GOLDSTEIN:
Waxman-Geschwind...if you know anything about it, it is not necessarily a destructive condition. In fact, Amy, after undergoing treatment, experienced periods of extreme happiness and creativity.
MULDER:
But you had no idea. You had no indication she might have taken her own life?
GOLDSTEIN:
No! (Stands)Of course not. I have been in practice for over forty years. I have a very good ethical and professional reputation, if you'd care to check.
MULDER:
That won't be necessary. (He exits)
SCULLY:
I know what you do.
(SCULLY leaves and joins MULDER in the corridor)
MULDER:
I have been here before. I met Doctor Goldstein with Amy Cassandra.
SCULLY:
This man is lying about more than that. I think that he administered the Ketamine to Amy and to you. I think that you were treated by him, and I think that your blackouts-these seizures-are a result of that.
MULDER:
I think you're right.
(They go out onto the street)
SCULLY:
Why would you do that, Mulder? Why would you undergo something as crazy and dangerous as this?
(MULDER clutches his head)
SCULLY:
Mulder? Mulder! Mulder?
(MULDER has another FLASHBACK. He sees his parents arguing)
MRS. MULDER:
My baby!
(The FLASHBACK ends and MULDER looks pained)
SCULLY:
Mulder?
MULDER:
I'm fine.
SCULLY:
No, I am not going to take that for an answer. You do not belong at work. You need to be somewhere where you can be monitored. You are a danger to yourself, and a danger to me. Are you hearing me?
MULDER:
Give me the car keys.
SCULLY:
No, you're not driving. You're not doing anything until these symptoms go away.
MULDER:
Scully, I don't want these symptoms to go away. Whatever's happening to me, whatever treatment I've received, is allowing me to go back into my unconscious. The truth is in there, recorded, and I've gotten access to it. What happened to my sister - the reason she was taken - is becoming clear to me, and I need to know that. Now give me the keys.
SCULLY:
To go where?
MULDER:
To my mother's, in Greenwich.
SCULLY:
(Sighs) Okay... but I'm driving.
SCENE 20 - EXT. MULDER RESIDENCE. DAY.
(MULDER and SCULLY drive up and get out. They are watched by MRS. MULDER from inside. The two agents enter the house and meet her)
MRS. MULDER:
Fox.
MULDER:
I need to speak to you.
MRS. MULDER:
What's happened, Fox? Why have you come here?
MULDER:
You've kept things from me. You've kept secrets from me.
MRS. MULDER:
What's the matter with him?
SCULLY:
He's undergone a treatment. He believes it's helped him to remember things.
MRS. MULDER:
Remember what?
MULDER:
You told me that, when they took Samantha, it was because you had to make a choice, but that's not how it happened. It wasn't your choice to make.
MRS. MULDER:
What do you want to hear from me?
MULDER:
I wanna know what happened that night on Quonochontaug, and I need to speak to you privately.
(MULDER and MRS. MULDER enter nother room and shut the door behind them)
MULDER:
You had some kind of relationship with him.
MRS. MULDER:
Who?
MULDER:
You know who. The man who worked with my father, the man who came to you that night when I was twelve, and forced you to choose Samantha.
MRS. MULDER:
No, Fox...
MULDER:
Yes! You betrayed my father, your husband.
MRS. MULDER:
Never!
MULDER:
How far back did it go?
(MRS. MULDER slaps MULDER’s face)
MRS. MULDER:
How dare you! How dare you come here and accuse me!
MULDER:
Who is my father?
MRS. MULDER:
What do you want, to kill him again?!
MULDER:
Just answer the question, mom.
(MRS. MULDER tries to leave but MULDER stops her)
MULDER:
Just answer the question!
MRS. MULDER:
I am your mother, and I will not tolerate any more of your questions. You're bleeding, Fox.
(MULDER puts his hand to his forehead and finds his fingers are covered in blood. MRS. MULDER storms upstairs. SCULLY joins MULDER in the room, only to find that he has gone. Looking out of the window, she sees him drive off in the car)
SCENE 21 - EXT STREET, 9:25 PM
( DOCTOR GOLDSTEIN is putting a bundle into the boot of his car. Another car pulls up and MULDER gets out)
MULDER:
What did you do to me?
GOLDSTEIN:
I told you...
MULDER:
You treated me. I asked you to treat me to recover my past.
GOLDSTEIN:
I did nothing wrong.
MULDER:
You put a hole in my head.
GOLDSTEIN:
A slight electrical stimulation.
MULDER:
It triggered my memory.
GOLDSTEIN:
Yes, as you had hoped.
MULDER:
Now I want you to finish the job.
SCENE 22 - INT GOLDSTEIN’s OFFICE
(DOCTOR GOLDSTEIN holds up a phial, and then helps MULDER to lie down)
MULDER:
Let's do it.
(DOCTOR GOLDSTEIN places a silver visor over MULDER’s eyes. The glow of a red LED can be seen over)
MULDER:
I wanna remember.
(MULDER has another FLASHBACK. Jumbled images of MR. and MRS. MULDER, SAMANTHA and the CIGARETT-SMOKING MAN)
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
Little spy.
MRS. MULDER:
Fox...
SAMANTHA:
Fox...
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
Little spy.
(Pieces of the board game that MULDER and SAMANTHA had been playing now vibrate and fall over)
SAMANTHA:
Fox!
(DOCTOR GOLDSTEIN straps MULDER down)
MRS. MULDER:
Not Samantha! Not Samantha!
SAMANTHA:
Fox!
(DOCTOR GOLDSTEIN puts a drill bit into a hand-hled drill and prepares to pierce MULDER’s forehead with it…)
SCENE 23 - EXT. GOLDSTEIN’S OFFICE
(Police cars pull up)
SCENE 24 - INT. GOLDSTEIN’S OFFICE
(POLICEMEN burst into the office. CURTIS strides in)
CURTIS:
Doctor Charles Goldstein? Doctor Goldstein, you're under arrest. Please, keep your hands where they are. Bag those gloves as evidence. Someone, read him his rights. (Notices the pillow on the bench is ruffled) Where is he? Mulder.
SCENE 25 - EXT. GOLDSTEIN’S OFFICE
(SCULLY drives up and then joins CURTIS)
SCULLY:
Where's Mulder?
CURTIS:
He's not here.
SCULLY:
Did you ask Doctor Goldstein?
CURTIS:
Goldstein wouldn't say one way or the other.
(The car containing GOLDSTEIN drives off)
SCULLY:
Stop that car! Hey!
(The car stops)
SCULLY:
Open the back door. W(To GOLDSTEIN)) hat did you do to him? Look, I know he came back here. This is the only place he would have gone. Did you treat him? Damn it! Answer me!
GOLDSTEIN:
Yes.
SCULLY:
Where is he now?
GOLDSTEIN:
I don't know where he went.
SCULLY:
What was the last thing he said to you?
GOLDSTEIN:
He said he was going to exorcise his demons.
SCENE 26 - QUONOCHONTAUG, RHODE ISLAND
(Police surround the house. A car pulls up and SCULLY gets out. She crosses to IMHOF)
IMHOF:
Agent Scully?
SCULLY:
Yeah.
IMHOF:
Frank Imhof.
SCULLY:
Is he in there?
IMHOF:
Saw a light go on a couple of minutes ago. Got to be somebody in there. We got here as soon as you called.
SCULLY:
All right... that man in there is armed. He is a federal officer in dire need of medical attention. He is not himself. Now, I'm going in there. If at any time he should flee that house, you need to tell your officers not to shoot.
(SCULLY walks to the front door and enters. There are no lights on inside)
SCULLY:
Mulder?
MULDER: (O.O.V.)
Leave me alone, Scully.
SCULLY:
Mulder, it's me.
(SCULLY joins MULDER, who is standing with his eyes shut)
MULDER:
Scully, leave me alone.
(MULDER experiences another FLASHBACK. He sees his PARENTS; the board game; lights shine through a window; a door handle turns; SAMANTHA levitates out of the window)
MRS. MULDER:
Not Samantha! Not Samantha!
SAMANTHA:
Fox!
(SCULLY watches as MULDER writhes in agony)
MULDER:
It's... all falling into place.
SCULLY:
Mulder, Put down the gun.
MULDER:
No. Don't try to stop me.
SCULLY:
Please, Mulder...
(MULDER continues his FLASHBACK. SAMANTHA is floating through the window)
MULDER:
Wake up.
SAMANTHA:
Fox...
(The CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN watches)
MRS. MULDER: (O.O.V.)
No! She's my baby!
(SAMANTHA floats away)
SAMANTHA:
I'm afraid, Fox. I'm afraid.
(MULDER comes back to SCULLY, but pushes her away)
MULDER:
Get away!
SCULLY:
Are you going to shoot me, Mulder? Is that how much this means to you? Mulder, listen to me. You have been given a powerful hallucinogen. You don't know that these memories are yours. This is not the way to the truth, Mulder. You've got to trust me.
MULDER:
Shut up!
SCULLY:
Put down the gun. Let it go.
SCENE 27 - EXT. HOUSE
(Gunshots are heard)
IMHOF:
We got shots fired. Move!
(The POLICEMEN rush to the house)
SCENE 28 - INT. HOUSE
(MULDER fires the gun again. We see SCULLY now standing behind him as he fires into the wall. She moves to comfort him as he collapses)
SCENE 29 - INT. SCULLY’s APARTMENT. NIGHT
SCULLY: (V.O.)
Although cleared of any wrongdoing in the deaths of Amy and David Cassandra, agent Mulder still has no recollection of the events that led to their deaths. His seizures have subsided, with no evidence of permanent cerebral damage, but I'm concerned that this experience will have a lasting effect. Agent Mulder undertook this treatment hoping to lay claim to his past-that by retrieving memories lost to him, he might finally understand the path he's on, but if that knowledge remains elusive, and if it's only by knowing where he's been that he can hope to understand where he's going, then I fear agent Mulder may lose his course, and the truths he's seeking, from his childhood, will continue to evade him...driving him more dangerously forward in impossible pursuit.
[THE END]
David Duchovny (Special Agent Fox Mulder), Gillian Anderson (Special Agent Dana Scully),
Rebecca Toolan (Teena Mulder), -Jay Acovone (Detective Joe Curtis), Shelley Adam (Young Teena Mulder), Dean Alyseworth (Young William Mulder), Terry Jang Barclay (Officer Imhof), Eric Breker (Admitting Officer),
Rebecca Harker (Housekeeper), Alex Haythorne (Young Fox Mulder), Andrew Johnston (Medical Examiner), Vanessa Morley (Young Samantha Mulder), Mike Nussbaum (Doctor Charles Goldstein), Chris Owens (Young Smoking Man)
Directed by Kim Manners
TX:
US TX - 11th May 1997
Notes:
*Featuring Special Agent Fox 'Spooky' Mulder and Special Agent Dana Scully
*The title refers to that fact that Mulder eants to exorcise his demons
*When Mulder asks the doctor to 'treat' him again, the time is 9:25pm - Vince Gillian's daughter Piper was born 9/25
*The Dostoyevsky Syndrome is mentioned - a reference to Dostoyevsky himself
*Victims David and Amy Cassandra - named for the Greek Prophet Cassandra; the god Apollo fell in love with Cassandra and granted her the gift of prophecy, but since she did not love him back he cursed the gift by having no-one ever believe her prophecies
*Police office Michael Fazekas - named after co-executive producer Frank Spotnitz's assistant