The X-Files - 3.

French title: Malédiction
translation: The Spell

Italian title: L' urna maledetta

US Airdate: March 8, 1996

writer: John Shiban

director: Kim Manners

STARRING:

David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder

Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully

Guest Cast:

Dr. Winters ..... Garrison Chrisjohn

Dr. Lewton .... Tom McBeath

Mona Wustner ... Janne Mortil

Roosevelt ..... Alan Robertson

Mr. Decker .... Ron Sauve

Shaman ..... Gordon Tootoosis

Bilac ..... Vic Trevino

A CURSE FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE BRINGS MULDER AND SCULLY INTO A STRING OF MURDERS COMMITTED BY AN UNSEEN FORCE IN A NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM.

When an archaeological expedition forcibly removes the remains of a South American shamaness against the wishes of the tribespeople, members of the expedition and the sponsoring museum begin to disappear from blood-soaked sites. Is it the working out of an ancient curse, or an act of political terrorism? Suspicion falls on Dr. Bilac, a member of the expedition who opposed the removal and who has become a raving recluse since the expedition's return to Boston. But before Mulder and Scully can find any evidence against him, two more museum members disappear in a welter of blood. A toilet choked with rats, a piece of small intestine gnawed by vermin, and a long-closed maze of steam tunnels lead the team to a horrible discovery far below the museum, where the fanged menace they seek turns on them in the darkness.

The title is Spanish for "mound of animals" or "animal hill", which refers to the site which was disturbed during this episode.

Personal note: And strictly my humble opinion, of course, this is probably my least favorite episode. The storyline alone is a turnoff, but those cheap looking cats?! Please, spare me! When this one aired, both the newsgroup and the mailing list were full of headers like, "Teso Dos Suckos".

Dr. Roosevelt: "We're not disturbing her, we're saving her!"

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Dr. R: "Have the piece cleaned and packed. It's going with us."

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Mulder: "Personally, if someone digs me up in 1000 years, I hope there's a curse on them, too."

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Scully: "Well apparently they've learned something from you, too."

Bilac: "Yesssss, I've been teaching them the joys of American beurocracy."

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(after leaving Bilac's house)

Mulder: "Nice to meet people who really believe in something, isn't it?"

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Scully: "...and the lack of other suspects."

Mulder: "He did look a bit squirrely back there."

Scully: "Maybe because he was up late last night murdering Craig Horning."

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Scully: "So you think Bilac's innocent? That the victim wasn't even killed at all? That he was devoured by a mythical jaguar spirit?!?!?"

Mulder: "Go with it, Scully."

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Scully: (drops split-rat in bag) "Ugh. Label that."

Cop: "As what?"

Scully: "Partial... dead rat body part."

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Scully: "Well, it's human, small intestine. There's about four feet of jejunum and another foot of ilium."

Mulder: "Do we know for sure it's Luden?"

Scully: "Yeah, by what he had for lunch: corn chowder and... it looks like he'd been snacking on sunflower seeds all afternoon."

Mulder: "A man with taste... "

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Curator: "Police found something outside."

Scully: "Mona Wassner?"

Curator: "No, Sugar, her dog. He's dead."

Mulder: "Finally a body."

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Vet: "When I dissected the dog's stomach, I found an undigested fragment of intestine, which appears to be feline..."

Scully: "The dog ate a cat."

Vet: "I also found what appears to be bits of rat fur. I think the rat ate the poison."

Scully: "Cat ate a rat."

Mulder: "And the dog ate the cat. (Scully gives Mulder the 'eyebrow') More rats, Scully."

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Scully: "So what are we taking about, Mulder? A posessed rat? The return of Ben?"

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Scully: "Have YOU been drinking Yahe, Mulder?"