The X-Files - 5.

German title: Alle Seelen
translation: All Souls

Japanese title: Banreisetsu
translation: All Souls Day

Spanish title: Todas las Almas
translation: All The Souls

US Airdate: April 26, 1998

Teleplay: Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban

Story: Billy Brown and Dan Angel

director: Allen Coulter

STARRING:

David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder

Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully

Guest Cast:

Arnie Walters as Father McCue

Patti Allan as Mrs. Kernof

Eric Keenleyside as Lance Kernof

Emily Perkins as Dara/Paula

Jody Racicot as Father Gregory

Lorraine Landry as Pathologist Vicki Belon

Glenn Morshower as Aaron Starkey

Lauren Diewold as Emily

Bob Wilde as George Vincent Dyer

Tim O'Halloran as the Sergeant

Tracy Elofson as Four-Faced Man

A PRIEST ASKS FOR SCULLY'S HELP WHEN A HANDICAPPED GIRL DIES A MYSTERIOUS DEATH.

Father McCue, the family priest who comforted Scully during her bout with cancer (see episode 5X03), baptizes Dara Kernof, a sixteen-year-old, severely mentally-retarded girl confined to a

wheelchair. Later that night, as a thunderstorm rages, Dara somehow gains strength in her legs and leaves her house. Dara's father, Lance, realizes something is amiss and makes his way outside. There he sees Dara in the middle of the street, her arms raised upward, kneeling before a Dark Figure. Suddenly, lightning flashes, supernaturally bright. When Lance reaches his daughter, he realizes she is dead--her eyes gone, as if having been burned out of their sockets. The Dark Figure, however, is nowhere in sight.

Father McCue contacts Scully and asks for her help in solving the mystery of the girl's death. Later, Scully visits the Kerofs, and learns that Dara was adopted six years earlier. The girl suffered from severe spinal deformities which confined her to a wheelchair her entire life. There is no explanation as to how Dara walked out of the house, though Lance is convinced he saw the Devil standing over her in the street.

Scully and a pathologist, Vicki Belon, examine Dara's body. Belon notes her misshapen hands and feet, which contain six digits (the extra fingers having been removed via surgery). Belon reluctantly proposes that the girl was struck down by God, as if she was a mistake.

Meanwhile, a man named Father Gregory visits a psychiatric hospital hoping to visit a girl named Paula Koklos, Dara's twin sister. But his progress is hindered by Aaron Starkey, a department of social services worker, who notes that the priest's adoption petition lacks his approval. Upset, the priest leaves the hospital. That night, a man enters Paula's room. An intense halo of light surrounds the figure and wings form its back. The next day, Scully examines Paula's body, her eyes burned out, kneeling much like Dara. Mulder joins his partner and reveals he has located Dara's birth records, which show she was one of quadruplets. Shortly thereafter, Starkey reveals that Paula was about to

be adopted by Gregory.

The agents pay Gregory a visit at his church. He insists he was trying to protect Paula from harm, and makes reference to an ongoing struggle between good and evil for all souls. Later, while examining

Paula's body, Scully experiences a vision of Emily.

Mulder performs further research on the adoption records. He uncovers information on a third sister, who walked into a teen crisis center a week earlier and is apparently homeless. With Starkey's help,

he canvases abandoned buildings in a desolate part of town. But the Dark Figure, this time sporting a hideous lion's face, finds the girl first. Mulder draws his weapon and orders a darkened figure to step into the light. It is revealed to be Father Gregory. Gregory laments that they are too late, as he found the third sister dead.

Mulder concludes Gregory is responsible for the murders. But Gregory insists he tried to protect the girls' souls from the Devil. He warns that the fourth sister must be located before it is too late. The

agents step out of the police interrogation room where Gregory is being held when new information about the fourth sister, Roberta Dyer, comes to light. Scully urges Mulder to find the girl. Meanwhile, Starkey enters the interrogation room where Gregory is being held. He demands to know the location of the fourth girl. When Gregory does not answer, he is burned alive by the demon.

Mulder makes his way to the home of George Dyer, the fourth sister's adoptive father. Dyer eventually reveals that Father Gregory took Roberta away. Shortly thereafter, Scully is approached by the Dark

Figure, whose head rotates, revealing the faces of a lion, a fierce bird, and a satyr. Stunned, Scully seeks out Father McCue for answers. He explains that the vision she experienced is a Seraphim, an angel who descended from the heavens and fathered four children with a mortal woman. The Lord sent Seraphim to earth to return the girls, who have the souls of angels, back to heaven to keep the Devil from claiming them as his own.

Later, Starkey tells Scully that the fourth girl is at Father Gregory's church. Once inside the church, Scully sees Starkey's shadow, which is in the form of a demon. Scully rescues the girl from a crawlspace and attempts to make her way out a back exit. A blinding white light suddenly erupts, the source of which is the mysterious Dark Figure. The fourth girl changes into the form of Emily--and begs Scully to let go. Scully reluctantly releases the girl's hand, and she disappears into the light. When the light fades, only the girl's body remains, her eyes burnt away. Later, Scully tells Mulder they should have been protecting the girls from Starkey, not Father Gregory. She also believes that no one killed the girls... but they are now in a place where they were meant to be. She concludes the incident was about letting go... of Emily.

Notes

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Quotes

____________________

(Scully enters a church, looks at a picture of Emily then enters a confession booth)

Scully: "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been several months since my last confession."

Priest: "You have a sin to confess?"

Scully: "Father, I’m an FBI agent. I’ve taken it as my code and purpose to uphold the law to save

lives."

Priest: "And now your work has come in conflict with your faith."

Scully: "In a way. I was here for Easter services last week and Father McCue approached me for my help."

Priest: "Why did he come to you?"

Scully: "Because there was a family that he felt needed my help. But it was more than that. Father, I had a daughter who died, a strange and sudden death several months ago."

Priest: "Father McCue thought that by helping these people you might in some way help yourself to come to terms with your grief."

Scully: "Yes."

Priest: "But you haven’t."

Scully: (crying) "Father, I told you that I had a sin to confess. But the sin of which I’m guilty, I’m not sure if you can offer forgiveness."

Priest: "What is the sin?"

Scully: "An innocent girl is dead because of me. I could’ve saved her life, but I let her die."

____________________________________________________________

(in the confessional)

Scully: "As much as I have my faith, Father, I am a scientist trained to weigh evidence ... but science only teaches us how ... not why."

____________________________________________________________

(Mulder arrives at the hospital as the body of one of the dead girls is wheeled out on a gurney)

Mulder: "Scully? Aren’t you the secret squirrel."

Scully: "What so you mean?"

Mulder: "Just got a look at that body they wheeled out of here. You’ve been holding out on me."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "Look, Scully. I know you don’t really want my help on this, but can I offer you my professional opinion? (Scully nods) You’ve got a bona-fide, super-crazy, religious wacko on your hands."

Scully: "What makes you so sure?"

Mulder: "The mote in the eye, the eyes as windows to the soul, an eye for an eye ... he’s working from ancient scripture ... ancient text ... maybe even the Bible. He may even think he’s doing God’s work."

____________________________________________________________

(after arriving at The Church of St. Peter the Sinner, Mulder picks up a plainly-bound book with the title, "The Book of St. Peter the Sinner" and begins to thumb through it)

Mulder: "Scully, look at this. The Gnostic Gospels ... Book of Enoch ... Book of J ... Apocrypha ... I’m surprised there’s nothing here from 'Jesus Christ Superstar'."

Scully: "What kind of church is this?"

Mulder: "There’s no telling."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "You said you wanted to protect Paula. From what?"

Father Gregory: "Whatever your intentions .. your secular prejudices blind you from seeing what’s really happening here. Two girls are dead ... not by the hand of Man. Unless you accept the truth of God’s teachings that there is a struggle between good and evil for all souls and that we are losing that struggle, you’re but fools rushing in. You put your own lives in danger as well as the lives of the Messengers. I have nothing more to say."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "I know people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, blah, blah, blah, but that guy is paranoid."

Scully: "I think you’re a little extreme in your judgment, don’t you, Mulder?"

Mulder: "All that crap about the fight for All Souls, the literature we saw in there, the performance we just witnessed ... it all fits. He thinks he’s doing God’s laundry."

Scully: "Well, he said this wasn’t done by the hand of man. Do you think he believes that, too?"

Mulder: "If he does, he’s even more dangerous than he appears. Even if he’s not your killer, he is hiding something."

Scully: "What?"

Mulder: "Well, he says he knew the mother, but won’t give up her name. Maybe she’s still alive. I think you have enough to bring him in for questioning if not make an arrest."

Scully: "But, basically, you’re ruling out any element of the supernatural?"

Mulder: (slowly) "What ... do ... you ... mean?"

Scully: "Well, Dara Kernoff was baptized on the day of her death. She was sanctified by the ritual sacrament ... submerged in the spirit.."

Mulder: "And why would God allow this to happen. Why do bad things happen to good people? Religion has masqueraded as the paranormal since the dawn of time to justify some of the most horrible acts in history."

Scully: "I was raised to believe that God has His reasons, however mysterious."

Mulder: "He may well have His reasons but He seems to use a lot of psychotics to carry out His job orders. You want to find out who did this? I suggest you autopsy the body of Paula Koklos before it’s interred, before the man who killed her has a chance to find her sisters."

____________________________________________________________

(in the interrogation room)

Mulder: "What are you asking for, Father? Mercy or forgiveness? You know they say when you talk to God it’s prayer, but when God talks to you, it’s schizophrenia. What is your God telling you, Father?"

Father Gregory: "I pray for the girls’ souls."

Mulder: "You pray for their souls now. That’s convenient."

Father Gregory: "I’m immune to your mockery. You’re not interested in the truth."

____________________________________________________________

(Scully's looking at a folder with a picture of the fourth girl as Mulder rattles off the facts of her case, she's not listening it seems)

Mulder: "What’s wrong?"

Scully: "Father Gregory called them Messengers."

Mulder: "Scully? Scully, don’t let this guy get in your head. That’s the last thing you want.

Sometimes the most twisted ones are the most persuasive."

Scully: "Mulder, he knows where she is."

Mulder: "Well, that’s okay. As long as he’s locked up here, it doesn’t matter."

Scully: "You’re not going find her. I think you’re being misled."

Mulder: "By who? Scully, I think you’re the one who’s being misled. Not just willingly, but willfully. I’ve never seen you more vulnerable or susceptible or more easily manipulated and it scares me because I don’t know why."

Scully: "I saw Emily. She came to me in a vision."

Mulder puts his arm around her shoulder and leans in close, not quite a hug, but darn close

Mulder: "I think you should step away. Personal issues are making you lose your objectivity, clouding your judgement."

Scully: "You go. Go find the girl. I’m going to finish up with Father Gregory."

Mulder: "Okay." (he releases her shoulder, gently takes the folder and leaves)

____________________________________________________________

Father McCue: "Is this what you saw? It’s a Seraphim. An angel with four faces. Those of a man, a lion, an eagle, and a bull. In the story, the angel descends from heaven and fathers four children with a mortal woman. Their offspring are the Nephilim, "The Fallen Ones." They have the souls of angels but they weren’t meant to be. They’re deformed, tormented. So the Lord sends the Seraphim to Earth to bring back the souls of the Nephilim to keep the Devil from claiming them as his own."

Scully: "How did he bring back their souls?"

Father McCue: "They were smote with the brightness of his countenance. To look upon the Seraphim in all his glory is to give up one’s soul to heaven."

Scully: "Do you think that’s what I saw?"

Father McCue: "No. I think what you saw is a figment of your imagination. A half-remembered story from your childhood that surfaced because of this case."

Scully: "But I saw it, Father."

Father McCue: "Dana, the Nephilim is a story. The text in which it appears isn’t even recognized by the Church."

Scully: "Father, do you believe that ... God has His reasons?"

Father McCue: "Yes, I’m certain of it. It’s how He rewards our faith."

____________________________________________________________

(the final scene in the confessional, after Scully's told the Priest about letting Emily go)

Priest: "You believed you were releasing her soul to Heaven."

Scully: "I felt sure of it."

Priest: "But you still can’t reconcile this belief with the physical fact of her death?"

Scully: "No. I thought I could, Father, but I can’t."

Priest: "Do you believe there is a life after this one?"

Scully: "Yes."

Priest: "Are you sure? (Scully tries to answer, but cannot) Has it occurred to you that maybe this, too, is part of what you were meant to understand?"

Scully: "You mean, accepting my loss?"

Priest: "Can you accept it?"