The X-Files - 4.

French title: Crime de mémoire
translation: A Crime of Memory

US Airdate: May 11, 1997

writer: R.W. Goodwin

director: Kim Manners

STARRING:

David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder

Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully

Guest Cast:

Vanessa Morley as young Samantha

Alex Haythorne as young Mulder

Shelley Adam as young Mrs. Mulder

Dean Aylesworth as young Bill Mulder

Rebecca Harker as housekeeper

Chris Owens as young Cigarette Smoking Man

Jay Acovone as Det. Joe Curtis

Mike Nussbaum as Dr. Charles Goldstein

Rebecca Toolan as Mrs. Mulder

Terry Barclay as Officer Imhof

MULDER BECOMES THE PRIME SUSPECT IN AN APPARENT DOUBLE HOMICIDE.

Mulder experiences a dreamlike vision, apparently a memory from childhood, in which he sees his mother and father reacting as if some terrible tragedy has entered their home. Mulder awakens in a motel room, sweating profusely, his hands and shirt stained with blood. He telephones Scully, who drives to the motel to offer assistance.

Suffering from a mental blackout, Mulder cannot recall how he got to the motel. Scully discovers that two rounds were fired from his gun. She also traces a car parked outside Mulder's room to a David and Amy Cassandra. The agents travel to the Cassandra residence, where they speak with a house-keeper. Inside the home are dozens of paintings of a white clapboard house. Mulder realizes he was inside the home, but cannot remember why.

The housekeeper gives the agents the address of the home depicted in the painting. As Mulder approaches the dwelling, he is suddenly struck by a flashback in which he encounters a young Cigarette-Smoking Man inside his parent's home. When the seizure subsides, the agents walk inside the cottage, where they find the dead bodies of David and Amy Cassandra. Blood from both victims is found on Mulder's shirt. Detective Curtis places Mulder under arrest. But a toxicology report reveals traces of the anesthetic Ketamine in Mulder and Amy Cassandra's blood. Scully realizes the drug could account for Mulder's memory loss. A short time later, Michael Fazekas, an admitting officer, steps inside a bathroom at the police station and shoots himself in the head. Scully discovers a small scab on the man's scalp, similar to one found on Amy's hairline. Detective Curtis reveals that Fazekas was a believer in UFOs. Inside Fazekas' apartment, Scully discovers a UFO magazine featuring a photograph of Amy, who believed she was an alien abductee.

A forensics report reveals that the blood spatter pattern on Mulder's shirt does not correspond to the point of entry detail. Curtis concludes the Cassandras died as the result of a murder-suicide. Further research reveals that Amy had been seeing Dr. Charles Goldstein, a psychiatrist, in an effort to recover suppressed memories. Goldstein admits he used unconventional therapy to stimulate electrical impulses in the brain.

Mulder suffers another seizure. During the attack, he experiences a vision in which a young Cigarette-Smoking Man pulled Mrs. Mulder close to him, as if to kiss her. Mulder and Scully drive to Mrs. Mulder's Greenwich home. There, Mulder confronts his mother. He accuses her of lying to him about having been forced to choose Samantha over him. He also accuses her of being unfaithful to his father. Mrs. Mulder angrily denies the allegations. Mulder storms out of the house and drives off. Mrs. Mulder tells Scully that Mulder suffered from epilepsy seizures until the age of twelve.

Mulder pulls a gun on Dr. Goldstein and forces him to finish his treatment--to make him relive (what he believes to be) to his past. Goldstein drugs Mulder, then slowly lowers a spinning needle towards his hairline. Police arrive at the scene and place Goldstein under arrest, but Mulder's whereabouts are unknown. The psychiatrist tells Scully that Mulder left his office "to exorcise his demons." Scully finds him at the house in Quonochontaug, balled up on the floor, a gun in his hand. Jolted by seizures, Mulder aims his gun at Scully. She attempts to convince him that the powerful hallucinogen injected into his body has affected his mind and that his visions, his apparent memories, cannot be trusted. Mulder fires a shot, but the bullet shatters a wall mirror behind Scully. Breaking down into tears, Mulder lowers the weapon. Scully's fear changes to sympathy as she comforts her partner.

the information above came from The Official X-Files Web Site

Angst here, come and get your red-hot Mulder angst here! Poor Mulder, what's he to believe now? Was his sister really taken by aliens all those years ago, or was his memory of her abduction merely planted? And what about those weird flashbacks? I've done my best to recreate them in the quotes below, hope it helps you to sort them out.

As for exactly what they all mean, all I have are my lame theories, so here we go:

Theory Number One: Mrs. Mulder and Cancer Man had a tryst, which produced Samantha. OR, CM and Bill Mulder "made" her as part of their project (human and alien hybrids) and Mrs. Mulder is just finding out about it.

Theory Number Two: Mulder caught Cancer Man assaulting his sister, Samantha. Now, I don't want to believe this one, but I'm afraid it makes sense. According to the conversation between Mrs. Mulder and Cancer Man in "Talitha Cumi", CM spent time at the Mulders' summer home when the kids were young, but for some reason, Mulder has no memories of him being there. This would make sense if he saw him doing anything to Samantha, as remembering Cancer Man would remind him of the abuse.

The main question still revolves around Mulder's father, Bill, and the choice made between the kids (as discussed in "Paper Clip"). So far, we've been led to believe, along with Mulder, that his sister was abducted and that Bill Mulder made the choice of which kid to "send", BUT, after this episode, is that true? Was she taken at all, or was the memory of that disappearance planted in Mulder's brain so he would never remember the terrible thing that happened to her? Was she actually kidnapped by CM's minions? Discuss amongst yourselves, I'm stumped!

Note that this was shown on Mother's Day, coincidence or what? Gee, Happy Mother's Day, whatever-the-heck-your-first-name-is Mama Mulder! And just who have you sleeping with in the past, hmmmm? As much as I'd like to know the answer to Mulder's question, I don't blame her for

slapping him, the nerve of some people's kids! Sure, but whose kid IS he? :-)

Okay, so my fellow Mitch Pileggi lovers got "Zero Sum", with Skinner-in-his-briefs, it's only fair that the David Duchovny droolers get naked-Mulder-in-the-tub here. Isn't it about time we have a

gratuitous flesh scene for Scully soon? Sorry, the "Pilot" scene in her underwear doesn't count, that was ages ago!

Due to the mass confusion concerning Mrs. Mulder saying "Do you want to kill him again?" to her son with regards to Bill Mulder, I thought it best to clear it up. No, she doesn't think he physically killed his father, we're still pinning the blame for that on Krycek (see "Anasazi"). What she seems to be saying is that Mulder's relentless pursuit of the "truth" and his work on the x-files is what killed Mr. Mulder. Maybe without all of Mulder's digging, Bill Mulder's participation in the "project" would have never come to light. Thus, he'd still be alive. I also interpret it to mean that by questioning his paternity, he'd be "killing" the memory of Bill as his father. Confusing, ain't it?

The climax of this ep, with Mulder pointing the gun at Scully, was not only a replay of "Pusher", but used the same camera trick as "Zero Sum". If we hadn't seen it a mere two weeks before, it would have had more impact.

I can't even begin to describe to you the feeling I had when Scully said "I know what you do" to the doctor. Chills on top of chills, surrounded by goosebumps! This one line and the meaning behind it, namely that the doctor was experimenting with mind control and planting the alien abduction memories in his patients, just may have been a very important key to the whole series. In my opinion, this ep would have made a much better season finale than "Gethsemane", but that's a whole other story.

For my fellow nitpickers, a couple of notes. Written on the motel key Mulder finds:

Hansen's Motel

(room #) 6

99321 Evergreen Hwy

Providence R.I

The car's registration info:

David Cassandra

3106 Quilchena Avenue

Providence, R.I

02901-99

(Be sure you have watched or have some knowledge of the season finale, "Gethsemane" before reading this last paragraph, don't blame me if it's spoiled for you!)

Although the whole series revolves around Mulder and his ongoing search for the elusive truth, it seems to me that the last few eps of this season, from "Small Potatoes" on through, have offered up a glimpse into the lonely, confusing, frustrating and ultimately, possibly useless life of our Agent Mulder. He has no love in his life, few friends, his family life is practically nonexistent and the only person he can trust (now that his boss has betrayed him and his mother won't even be honest with him about his own paternity fer gosh sakes!), Scully, is on death's door. Sounds like a classic case of a suicidal personality to me. Just when you think the powers that be are making it up as they go along, you take a step back, and see that there really does seem to be a logical progression to this whole crazy thing.

Mulder's flashbacks, in order:

1. Young Samantha says "Wake up Fox!", he gets up, she tells him to shhhh, "they'll hear you", he sees himself as a kid, Samantha is looking down from a stairwell on their parents fighting, Mrs. Mulder is seated on the couch, her head in her hands, screaming something about "Not my baby!", Samantha says "I'm afraid Fox!".

2. Mulder is looking through a doorway from the hall, his father is pacing back and forth and we can hear his mother yelling. According to the closed-captioning, this is what is said:

Mrs. Mulder: "How could you do this to our family?!"

Bill Mulder: "I'm not doing it! It's not just me! These orders are coming down from..."

Mrs. Mulder: "Be quiet!"

Bill Mulder closes the door on Fox

Cancer Man: (smoking, in another doorway looking at young Mulder) "You're a little spy."

3. Young Mulder is standing in a hallway looking into a room where Cancer Man and Bill Mulder are yelling at each other, Bill sees Fox and slams the door shut, Fox runs away, climbs a ladder to a room where Samantha is lying on a bed, she looks up, a look of concern on her face, Fox looks over and is now looking down on the living room, Mrs. Mulder runs in and begins attacking CM with her fists saying something like "Not Samantha!", Bill is standing to the side of them, he looks up and meets Fox's eyes.

4. Mrs. Mulder and Cancer Man are locked in an embrace, but she's struggling to get away, a look of fear on her face and he is holding her head by the hair.

5. Quick flashes from one scene to the next: Cancer Man pulls Samantha to him in an embrace, her eyes are closed, she offers no resistance, Mrs. Mulder, horror in her eyes, slams a door shut, repeat of the "You're a little spy" scene from flashback number 2, a shocked looking Mrs. M turns her head quickly to face CM, Bill Mulder slams a door, Samantha says "Fox!", looking down on living room scene, Mr. and Mrs. Mulder fighting, quick flashes of other faces we've seen already, then Bill Mulder and CM face to face with possibly Bill yelling something about a lie, back to CM and Mrs. M in the previous embrace, Stratego pieces on a board moving, Samantha saying "Fox!", replay of the last part of flashback 3, Stratego pieces again, light shining through a door, a door handle turning, Samantha yelling "Fox!".

6. Replays end of previous flashback, Samantha is floating out a window with bright light behind her, we hear her voice saying "Wake up Fox!", her body is floating towards a bright light surrounded by darkness, next we see her standing and the image shatters, as a mirror would, and

Cancer Man is now standing and smoking a cigarette in slow motion, now we see Samantha falling into blackness as her voice says "I'm afraid Fox", flashes of orange light in blackness.

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Scully's bedside phone rings at 4:50AM

Scully: "Hello?"

Mulder: "Scully."

Scully: "Mulder, what time is it?"

Mulder: "I don't know."

Scully: (looks at clock) "It's almost 5AM, is something wrong?"

Mulder: "I think so."

Scully: "Where are you?"

Mulder: (looking at key) "I think I'm in a motel room in Providence, but.."

Scully: "Where?"

Mulder: "Rhode Island."

Scully: "What are you doing there?"

Mulder: "I don't know, there's bl... there's blood all over me."

Scully: "Are you hurt, Mulder?"

Mulder: "I don't think so, it's... I don't think it's my blood."

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Scully: "Car's registered under a David Cassandra, the address is right here in Providence."

Mulder: "Who's Amy?" (the name on the car keys he found)

Scully: "That's what I'm going to find out, Mulder. But first I'm gonna check *you* out, 'cause 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."

____________________________________________________________

Scully: "Mulder, I refuse to believe you had any part in this."

Mulder: "I had those people's blood on my 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?"

____________________________________________________________

regarding Dr. Goldstein's procedures

Scully: "Why would you do that, Mulder? Why would you undergo something as crazy and dangerous as this? (Mulder grabs his head in pain and has flashback number 4) Mulder?! 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? It's beginning to become clear to me. And I need to know that, now give me the car keys."

Scully: "To go where?"

Mulder: "To my mother's, in Greenwich."

Scully: "Okay, but I'm driving."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "I need to speak to you."

Mrs. Mulder: "What's happened, Fox? Why have you come here?"

Mulder: (his eyes down, not looking her in the eye) "You've kept things from me, you've kept secrets from me."

Mrs. M: (to Scully) "What's the matter with him?"

Scully: "He's undergone a treatment, he believes it's helped him to remember things."

Mrs. M: (to 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. M: "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." (he walks into another room, she follows and closes the door)

Mulder: "You had some kind of relationship with him."

Mrs. M: "Who?"

Mulder: "You know who. The man who worked with my father. The man who came to you that night when I was 12 and forced you to choose Samantha."

Mrs. M: "No, Fox..."

Mulder: "Yes! You betrayed my father, your husband!"

Mrs. M: "Never!"

Mulder: "How far back did it go? (she slaps him hard across the face)

Mrs. M: "How dare you! How dare you come here and accuse me!"

Mulder: "Who is my father?"

Mrs. M: "What do you want? To kill him again?!"

Mulder: "Just answer the question, Mom. Just answer the question!"

Mrs. M: "I am your mother, and I will not tolerate any more of your questions! (his forehead begins to bleed) You're bleeding Fox." (she leaves the room)

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "What did you do to me?"

Dr. Goldstein: "I told you..." (the doctor had previously said they'd never met)

Mulder: "You treated me, I asked you to treat me, to recover my past."

Dr. G: "I did nothing wrong."

Mulder: "You put a *hole* in my head!"

Dr. G: "A slight electrical stimulation."

Mulder: "Triggered my memory."

Dr. G: "Yes, as you had hoped."

Mulder: "Now I want you to finish the job."

____________________________________________________________

Scully: "What was the last thing he said to you?"

Dr. G: "He said he was going to exorcise his demons."

____________________________________________________________

inside the Mulder's summer house in Quonochontaug, Mulder is on the floor, a gun in his hands, experiencing a flashback

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: "Go away!"

Scully: "Are you gonna shoot me, Mulder? (he nods yes) Is that how much this means to you? Mulder listen to me, you have been given a powerful hallucigen. 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 changes to outside as 7 shots are fired, back to Mulder and as camera pulls away, we see Scully standing behind him. She walks to him as he hunches over and puts her arms around him, her face resting on his back

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Scully's closing monologue as she types her report:

Although cleared of any wrong doing 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 is seeking from his childhood will continue to evade him, driving him more dangerously forward in impossible pursuit.