The X-files
Elegy
Episode: 4X22
First aired:5/04/97
Written by:John Shiban
Directed by:Jim Charleston
This is a
freaky episode. Especially since it deals with
Scully's
cancer and what it means to her and her relationship with
Mulder. A very well writen and directed episode.
Angie Pintero, the working-class owner of a
bowling alley, tells one of his employees,
mentally retarded and compulsive man, Harold Spuller, to go home for the evening. Shortly thereafter, Angie discovers a badly-injured blond girl wedged inside a
pinspotter carriage. The girl attempts to
speak, but no words come out of her mouth. Angie notices
police in a nearby parking lot and rushes outside to get help. He realizes a crowd has gathered around the dead body of the same girl he saw only moments earlier in the
bowling alley.
Angie relates his
bizarre tale to
Mulder and Scully.
Mulder suspects that Angie encountered the dead girl's
ghost, a spirit that was attempting to
communicate with the living for
reasons unknown. Three similar encounters, and three similar murders, were reported in the area in as many weeks. The agents discover the words, "She is me" written on the
bowling lane where Angie saw the spirit. But its meaning remains a
mystery.
Detective Hudak tells
Mulder and
Scully that an
anonymous caller phoned 911 with a message regarding Penny Timmons, one of the killer's
victims. The caller claimed that Timmons' last words were "She is me." But Hudak notes the victim's larynx was severed, making it impossible for her to utter dying words.
The agents trace the source of the 911 call to a
payphone at the New Horizon
Psychiatric Center. Mulder notices one of the patients, Harold Spuller, avoiding his gaze. After viewing
photographs of the murder victims, Scully comes to the conclusion that Spuller fits the killer's profile: a compulsive person consumed with the desire to
organize,
clean and reorder.
Scully uses a rest room to attend to a
nose bleed, which is the result of her cancer. There she encounters the spirit of another
blond girl. Moments later, Mulder relays word that the body of yet another
victim was found nearby.
Mulder discovers Harold holed-up in a dimly-lit room
accessible from the bowling alley. The walls of the room are covered with
score sheets, including those of the victims. Mulder realizes that Harold met each of the
murdered women at the bowling alley. Suddenly, Harold lapses into a strange
seizure. From his point of view, he sees Angie's ghost standing behind Mulder. He rushes out of the room and makes his way to the bowling alley, where Angie lies dead, the victim of a
heart attack. Mulder tells Scully that every person who saw the
apparitions was about to die, implying that Harold may be next. Scully, who also saw a victim's ghost, is struck by the
implication but does not tell this to Mulder.
Harold is transported back to the
psychiatric center. There, he is tormented by Nurse Innes, who ridicules his
intellect and
physique. Later, Mulder finds Innes lying on the floor, half-conscious. Innes claims Harold went berserk and attacked her. One of the other patients, Chuck Forsch, tells Scully that Nurse Innes was trying to
poison Harold. Scully slowly realizes that Innes, not Harold, was
responsible for the murders. When Innes attacks Scully with a
scalpel, Scully draws her weapon and fires, striking her in the shoulder. Afterward, Scully tells Mulder that Innes has been ingesting Harold's
medication, triggering
violent and
unpredictable behavior. She hypothesizes that Innes was out to destroy the love Harold felt towards the young women. Later, Harold's body is discovered in a nearby
alley, the apparent victim of
respiratory failure. But Scully suspects Harold died from what Innes took away from him.
Scully admits to Mulder that she saw the
ghost of the fourth victim shortly after she was
murdered. Later, Scully sees Harold's spirit sitting in the back seat of her car.
Important Quotes:
Mulder -- "What, you don't believe in
ghosts?"
Scully -- "You're saying that what this man saw was the victim's ghost?"
Mulder -- "Sounds more like a
disembodied soul."
Scully -- "Which is just another name for a ghost."
Mulder -- "Except according to Mr. Pintero, this one was trying to
communicate. It was speaking to him as if she was trying to tell him something. It sounds more like a death omen."
Scully -- "A
death omen?"
Mulder -- "Yeah. It's a spirit being that arrives as a harbinger of death."
Scully -- "Mulder, the man is
disturbed. You could see the pressure building in him from the moment the
interview began."
Mulder -- "Yeah."
Scully -- "Why are you now so unconvinced that Harold Spuller is the man we came here looking for?"
Mulder -- "I'm sure Harold Spuller is the man that made that phone call. But what led us to him still remains
unexplained."
Scully -- "'
She is me.'"
Mulder -- "Uh huh, and the other
apparitions, like the one Mr. Pintero saw at the bowling alley."
Scully -- "Mulder ... I ..."
Mulder -- "What?"
Scully -- "I think I'm going to let you take care of that. I, uh, I think I'm gonna get this checked out just, you know, just to be safe."
Mulder -- "You want me to
drive you?"
Scully -- "No, no, I'm fine really. I've had the
doctors keep a close watch and it's just, just
precaution."
Mulder -- "You're sure?"
Scully -- "
I'm fine."
Scully (to
therapist) -- "I don't mean for this to sound too dire. My
health has been good. I have been checked up on a
weekly basis."
T -- "You've kept
working?"
Scully -- "Yes. It's been
important to me."
T -- "Why?"
Scully -- "Why? Um ...
Agent Mulder has been concerned. He's been supportive through this time."
T -- "Do you feel that you owe it to him to continue working?"
Scully -- "No. (pauses) I guess I never realized how much I rely on him before this ... his
passion ... he's been a great source of
strength that I've drawn on."
Scully -- "I saw something Mulder."
Mulder -- "What?"
Scully -- "The fourth
victim. I saw her in the
bathroom before you came to tell me."
Mulder -- "(in a slightly
annoyed tone) Why didn't you tell me?"
Scully -- "Because I didn't want to believe it. Because I don't want to believe it."
Mulder -- "Is that why you came down here, to prove that it wasn't true?"
Scully -- "No, I came down here because
you asked me to."
Mulder -- "Why can't you be honest with me?"
Scully -- "(defensively) What do you want me to say? That you're right, that, that I believe it even if I don't. I mean, is that what you want?"
Mulder -- "Is that what you think I want to hear?"
Scully -- "(softly) No."
Mulder -- "You can
believe what you
want to believeScully, but you can't hide the truth from me because if you do, then you're working against me ... and
yourself. (his voice softens) I know what you're afraid of. I'm afraid of the
same thing.
Scully -- "The doctor said I was fine."
Mulder -- "I hope that's
the truth."
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