The X-files
Paper Hearts
Episode: 4X08
First aired:12/15/96
Written by:Vince Gilligan
Directed by:Rob Bowman
A wonderful episode.
Mulder experiences a series of vivid dreams that lead him to the discovery of the
long-buried
skeleton of a murdered child. Mulder is shaken, recognizing the M.O. of
serial killer John Lee Roche, one of the first killers Mulder
profiled. Between 1979 and
1990, Roche abducted girls between the ages of 8 and 10 from their homes, strangled
them, and cut a
heart-shaped piece of fabric from their clothes as a
trophy. When
captured, Roche confessed to 13 murders. Mulder fears that this discovery means there
are more victims than those Roche had
admitted to. When the girl is identified, it proves
that Roche began his crimes as early as 1975. Another clue from the dream helps Mulder
locate where the killer hid his trophies. He finds a total of 16 hearts, and realizes there
are two more
unknown victims.
Scully and Mulder interview Roche in
jail. He won't tell them about the
missing children,
and toys with their
questions. Oddly, he comments that he understands why Mulder is
taking the case personally. His meaning becomes clear with Mulder's next dream.
Mulder goes back in time to the terrifying night in 1973 when his sister
Samantha was
abducted--except the creature who bursts through door is not an
alien--it is Roche.
Mulder tries to get the truth from Roche, who claims that he sold a
vacuum to Mulder's father before Samantha's
disappearance. When Roche won't answer Mulder directly, Mulder becomes enraged
and
punches Roche in the face.
Scully, who witnessed Mulder's loss of control, tries to convince him the
dreams are
nothing but images from his
subconscious. She is certain that Roche is only cleverly
manipulating Mulder's emotions. Mulder always believed Samantha was abducted by
aliens, and now he doesn't know what to believe. His fears seem confirmed when, in the
basement of his family home, Mulder discovers the same model of vacuum that Roche
claimed Mulder's father bought for his mother.
When
Skinner finds out Mulder struck Roche, he denies Mulder further access to the
prisoner. Yet Skinner is
sympathetic when Mulder tells him his fears about Samantha,
and finally allows Mulder
interview Roche again, as long as Scully keeps an eye on
him.
Mulder finally agrees to give Roche what he had been [
demanding: the heart trophies he
cut out of
pajamas of his victims. Now, Mulder demands to know the truth about
Samantha. Roche's description of the night Samantha was
abducted is exactly the same
as Mulder remembers. He refuses to tell Mulder if one of the cloth hearts was taken from
Samantha's clothing. Instead, he makes Mulder choose one of the hearts at
random, and
tells them where to find the body. Another body is discovered--it's not Samantha.
When
Mulder and Scully return, Roche is fully in control. Refusing to
divulge anything
more unless he's taken to the scene of the crime. Scully can't stand to listen anymore,
and makes Mulder leave with her. She insists that Roche is
playing Mulder.
Willing to risk everything to find out the truth about his sister's abduction, Mulder makes
a difficult decision. Without
notifying Scully or Skinner, he releases Roche from jail and
takes him to his
childhood home in
Martha's Vineyard. Inside the house, Roche
describes everything in great detail--except, Mulder says they are in
the wrong house.
He has tricked Roche by deliberately taking him to a house 6 miles away from his
childhood home. Now he now knows Roche has been
lying all along. Mulder guesses
that his extensive knowledge of Roche enabled Roche to get into his head saying, "I
profiled you...maybe some connection was created between us. And through it, you
pilfered my memories of Samantha."
Mulder plans to return Roche to jail
the next morning. In the motel, he has one final
dream of Samantha -- and wakes up to find himself bound in his own
handcuffs with
Skinner and Scully pounding on the
motel room door. Roche is missing; and so are
Mulder's
FBI badge and his
gun. With Mulder's
ID, Roche tracks down the whereabouts
of Caitlin, a little girl he had spotted on their flight to
Boston. Mulder shoulder's all the
blame for placing Caitlin in such
horrific danger. And he admits to Scully that she was
right. Roche was just playing him.
Mulder's knowledge of Roche pays off when he correctly identifies where Roche took
the girl. He shoots Roche to save Caitlin's life...still
plagued by the doubts Roche planted
about Samantha's fate.
Important Quotes:
Mulder -- "So you think that I've somehow had this information about a fourteenth
victim all the time and I've been processing it
unconsciously?"
Scully -- "You said it yourself once. You said that a... a dream is an answer to a question we haven't learned how to ask. You did good work, Mulder. Let's
identify this girl so we can put her to rest."
Mulder -- "He was there, Scully. He was in the house. He took
Samantha."
Scully -- "In your dream, Mulder. It was a dream. Your mind made it up."
Mulder -- "A dream is an answer to a question we haven't yet figured out how to ask, right? Something buried in your
subconsciousness. You heard him in there, he knew something. He mentioned being on
Martha's Vineyard."
Scully -- "I had left Agent Mulder for the day. I suggested that he get some sleep. Sir, I have a clear idea of where he might have gone and I am sure that
I can catch up with him."
Skinner -- "I'll be the one to catch up with him. Where's he headed?"
Scully -- "Martha's Vineyard. And I would hope that you'd appreciate the
uniqueness of this situation and it's effect on
Agent Mulder."
Skinner -- "No, I fully understand the effect it has on him,
Agent Scully. As I recall, that was the sum and total of my last words to you on the subject.
You let me down. Let's clean up this mess before it gets completely out of hand."
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