Japanese title: Gen-you
translation: Vision
(Somewhat of a Ninja term. A power that makes someone see things which don't exist.)
Spanish title: Locura de Dos
translation: Madness of Two
US Airdate: May 10, 1998
writer: Vince Gilligan
director: Kim Manners
STARRING:
David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully
Mitch Pileggi as Assistant Director Walter Skinner
Guest Cast:
Brian Markinson as Gary Lambert
Dmitry Chepovetsky as Supervisor
Cynthia Preston as Nancy Aaronson
Brenda McDonald as Mrs. Loach
John Apicella as Greg Pincus
Roger R. Cross as the Field Agent
Grant Gladish as the SWAT Teamer
Steve Bacic as SWAT Commander
Leslie Jones as Ms. Starns
Nancy Kerr as The Nurse
Owen Walstrom as Mark Backus
Norma Jean Wick as The Newscaster
MULDER IS TAKEN HOSTAGE BY A MAN WHO CLAIMS HIS BOSS IS LITERALLY A
MONSTER.
Gary Lambert works as a vinyl siding telemarketer in Oak Brook,
Illinois. On the surface, Gary would seem to be a mild-mannered Everyman. But unbeknownst
to his co-workers, Gary is convinced that his boss is an evil monster who preys on his own
staff, turning them into the undead. One morning, Skinner summons Mulder and Scully to his
office. He explains that the company Gary works for, VinylRight, received an anonymous,
audio-taped manifesto, on which a man threatens to commit a violent act. As a result, the
company wishes to have the threat investigated. Mulder is puzzled as to why Skinner is
sending he and Scully to investigate. Skinner then explains that the maker of the
tape spoke of a monster threatening employees. Somewhat irked,
Mulder tells Scully he will handle the case alone, labeling himself "Monster
Boy."
When Mulder arrives at the company, he is greeted by office manager
Greg Pincus, who plays him the taped message. Mulder's interest is piqued by a reference
to "hiding in the light." He telephones Scully and asks her to investigate
previous X-Files cases for such a phrase. Meanwhile, Gary grows concerned when a fellow
employee, Nancy Aaronson, is summoned to Greg's office. When Nancy returns to her cubicle,
Gary notices that, from his point of view, she appears to be dead.
Scully telephones Mulder when she finishes researching the files. It
turns out that the phrase "hiding in the light" was also used by a deacon at a
Lakeland, Florida church. The deacon was convinced that one of his parishioners was an
evil presence. One Sunday, he entered the church for mass and opened fire on his flock.
When Mulder returns to VinylRight, he finds a sea of deserted cubicles. Nancy's head peeks
out from behind a wall and warns Mulder to take cover. Before he has time to react, Gary
approaches--armed with an AK-47. Mulder slowly raises his hands into the air.
Scully flies to Illinois and joins FBI and SWAT team members who
have surrounded the building. Inside, Gary uses his co-workers to form a human barricade.
A SWAT team commander overrules Scully and dials Mulder's cell phone. Gary opens Mulder's
jacket... and notices his gun within. Gary kicks Mulder in the head, knocking him to the
ground. A hostage then charges Gary, but he swivels and opens fire, killing the man. Gary
then speaks with an FBI agent, and demands that a television crew be sent into the
building so he can broadcast his fears to the public. Using a closed-circuit system, the
FBI fools Gary into thinking his image is being broadcast throughout the city. Addressing
the camera, Gary raises his gun and points it at Greg. He instructs everyone to look at
Greg... to look at "it." Mulder glances over his shoulder... and sees a monster
where Pincus was standing. Suddenly, an Armored Personnel Carrier bursts through a wall. A
SWAT team member opens fire, striking Gary.
Mulder cannot dismiss what he saw inside the office complex. After
performing additional research, Mulder determines that five previous X-Files cases involve
monster that went unnoticed by all accept the claimant. Scully reacts with incredulity
when Mulder suggests that Gary was not insane, but actually saw the creature he described.
Scully attributes Mulder's behavior to "folie à deux," a madness shared by
people under tense conditions.
Meanwhile, Mulder follows Greg Pincus to the home of Gretchen
Starns, one of his employees. As Mulder stands outside of the house, and gazes through a
window, he sees the monster advance behind Gretchen, its insect-like mouth aiming for the
back of her neck. The woman suddenly screams, prompting Mulder to shatter the window
glass. The monster defies gravity by crawling over the house.
Gretchen lodges a complaint with the FBI, accusing Mulder of
breaking into her home. During a meeting with Skinner, Mulder sees Pincus, in the form of
the monster, advancing. Mulder draws his gun, but Skinner, believing Mulder has lost his
mind, gains the upper hand. Mulder is then admitted to a mental institution. Later, at
Mulder's prompting, Scully examines the back of the dead hostage's neck. There she
discovers tiny puncture marks. At the hospital, a restrained Mulder listens in horror as
the monster approaches the window to his room. Mulder calls for the nurse... only to
realize that she is one of the monster's minions. Scully visits the hospital... and
experiences a vision of the nurse as one of the living dead. She races to Mulder's room,
where she discovers the creature crawling on the ceiling. She opens fire, but the creature
escapes. Later, Scully meets with Skinner. She voices her belief that Mulder is of sound
mind. She notes that an unidentified toxin was found in the dead hostage, and notes that
Pincus has disappeared, along with the nurse and several VinylRight employees. After
recovering from his ordeal, Mulder returns to work. Scully informs him she told Skinner
the truth: the incident can only be explained as a "folie à deux."
Notes
The title translates as "a shared madness of two".
This page is not complete yet, thank you for your patience.
Quotes
____________________
(in Skinner's office)
Skinner: "I need you to go to Chicago as soon as possible to
perform a threat assessment."
Scully: "A threat assessment for whom?"
Skinner: "VinylRight. They make siding. Their telemarketing hub
in Oakbrook was the focus of an anonymous audio-taped manifesto, one which threatened
violence. Apparently, several years back they had an incident in another office. A
disgruntled employee with a gun. They feel they cant be too careful."
Mulder: "Why cant the Chicago field office take care of
it?"
Skinner: "Because I prefer you did."
Mulder: (challenging) "Because the manifesto contains bizarre
overtones ... claims of a paranormal nature?"
Skinner: "It speaks of a monster stalking employees. Your
insight into such claims should aid in assessing the threat, if any, posed by this
person."
Mulder: (sarcastically) "Monsters. Im your boy."
(now we see Mulder and Scully walking down the hall outside
Skinner's office)
Mulder: "I mustve done something to piss him off."
Scully: "What do you mean?"
Mulder: "Get stuck with this jerk-off assignment or have I
finally reached that magic point in my career where every time somebody sees Bigfoot or
the Virgin Mary on a tortilla I get called to offer my special insight on the
matter?" (rubs his forehead showing his still taped fingers)
Scully: "Youre saying 'I' a lot. I heard 'we'. Nor do I
assume that this case is just a waste of our time."
Mulder: "Not yours, anyway. Theres no reason both of us
should go to Chicago. Ill take care of it."
Mulder, in the telemarketing office, calls Scully in their office
Scully: "Scully."
Mulder: "Hi. Its me. I need you to check on
something."
Scully: "What?"
Mulder: "Its a phrase, 'hiding in the light'. Its
on this tape that Im looking into."
Scully: "On the case thats a total waste of time?"
Mulder: "Yes, and I didnt say that it wasnt. Uh,
'to hide in the light' or 'hiding in the light' ... some form of that. I think its
in an old case file somewhere that I got hidden away."
Scully: "Which one? Theres hundreds."
Mulder: "Im not sure, but I appreciate it." (he
hangs up)
Scully: (to herself, not pleased) "Hiding in the light."
(gets up to go look for the file)
Mulder's listening to the tape, his cell phone rings
Mulder: "Mulder."
Scully: " 'Hiding in the light.' That was a phrase spoken by
one Jerrold Resnick to a Lakeland,
Florida police investigator on August 9, 1992."
Mulder: "What was he describing?"
Scully: "Well, Mr. Resnick was a deacon of his local church and
apparently he was concerned that there was an evil presence amongst his fellow
parishioners and that he alone was aware of that fact."
Mulder: "He was trying to warn them?"
Scully: "Not as such. He showed up for mass one Sunday with
four handguns and he began wounding people saying, "The afflicted ones wouldnt
bleed." He committed suicide a week later in his cell."
Mulder: "Scully, at the risk of you telling me 'I told you so'
I think its time for you to get down here and help me."
Mulder's being held hostage, along with the other telemarketing
employees, but his cover hasn't been blown yet
Gary Lambert: "Who are you, anyway?"
Mulder: "My name is Mulder."
Gary: "You said that already. What are you doing here?"
Mulder: "Applying for a job."
Gary: (snickering) "Oh, man, did you come to the wrong
place."
Mulder: "I get that. Why should we be afraid of Mr. Pincus,
Gary?"
Gary: "Because hes a monster ... only you cant see
that because hes clouded all your minds but he means to take us all one by one ...
harvest our souls ...
(Mulder unbuttons his jacket while Garys back is turned)
... make us into zombies ... robots made out of meat."
(cocks rifle)
Pincus: " Oh, God almighty ..."
Mulder: "Gary, I want to believe that youre protecting
us, but, uh, Im kind of afraid of that rifle. It makes it hard for us actual people
to concentrate on what youre saying."
Gary: (to Mulder) "Why are you talking to me like Im a
three-year-old? Dont act like you understand what Im talking about, because
you dont ... but you will."
In the XF office, Mulder is drawing red lines on a map connecting
cities and writes the date 5/10/98. Scully enters and is surprised to see him there
Scully: "Mulder, why didnt you take the day off?"
Mulder: "Close the door. There was a reason the phrase 'hiding
in the light' seemed so familiar to me. I found it or variations of it in five other
X-Files. 'Hiding in plain view', 'Hiding in the open', 'Lurking in the open.' All to
describe some sort of manifestation of evil which goes unnoticed be everyone except the
claimant in each case."
Scully: "Have you slept?"
Mulder: "Seven cities in all dating back ten years. VinylRight
has offices within 50 miles of 4 of those cities. Greg Pincus has worked for VinylRight
for ten years."
Scully: "What exactly is it you think you have here?"
Mulder: "What if Gary Lambert was right?"
Scully: "Mulder, youre not serious."
Mulder: "Just bear with me for a moment. What if such a
creature existed that could camouflage itself by clouding the minds of its victims? There
are antecedents for it in nature. In the insect world, mantids are said to hypnotize their
prey."
Scully: "No."
Mulder: "What if it could induce a visual hallucination ... a
sort of temporary conversion disorder?"
Scully: "Well, what youre describing would be more like
some kind of a visual agnosia, an inability to recognize whats before ones
eyes."
Mulder: "Only Gary Lambert could see through it somehow, as
could the others ... maybe because of some heightened adrenaline level of maybe just
because he knew where to look somehow."
Scully: "Mulder, he was disturbed."
Mulder: "Yeah, but did he see it because he was disturbed, or
was he disturbed because he saw it?"
Scully: "He was mentally ill. This monster was a sick fantasy
... a product of his dementia."
Mulder: "I saw it, too. (worried, really asking her) Does that
make me disturbed? Demented? Does that make me sick, too?"
Scully: (pauses before answering) "No. No, I mean, this ...
this kind of thing is not uncommon.
You ... you went through a terrible ordeal and sometimes people in
close associations under tense conditions, the delusions of one can be passed on to the
other."
Mulder: "Folie A Deux? Its not that, Scully. Its
not Helsinki Syndrome either. What I saw was real, and there may be a way to prove
it."
Scully: "How?"
Mulder: "Lambert pointed out certain individuals he said had
been victimized by Pincus, turned into zombies. The man he shot, Backus was one of them.
If you would autopsy the body ..."
Scully: "No. No, absolutely not."
Mulder: "Scully, if this is all in my mind I would be very
grateful if you would prove that."
Scully: "Mulder, I am not going to serve the delusions of Gary
Lambert, a madman, by giving credence to them."
Mulder: "Then Ill prove it without you." (gets up to
leave)
Scully: "Lets start with the photos. In fact, lets
just do photos. External exam only."
Lab Guy: "This guy came a long way just to have his picture
taken."
Scully: "Knock yourself out."
(Lab Guy begins taking pictures as Scully turns away and dials her
cell phone)
Lab Guy: "Case number 98-6522, Mark Backus 45-year-old
Caucasian male. There are three one centimeter gunshot entry wounds on the left anterior
chest wall with some burn stippling present."
Scully: (phone still ringing) "Come on, Mulder."
Lab Guy: "Judging from the corpses resolved rigor and
fixed lividity as well as the decompositional bloating Id place the time of death
between 48 and 72 hours."
Scully: (turning, surprised) "No. This man died late yesterday
afternoon."
Lab Guy: "Are you sure?"
Scully: "Absolutely."
Lab Guy: "Sure looks to me like hes been dead longer than
that." (we see the body uncovered and sure enough, he looks like he's been dead a
long time)
Mulder is strapped down to a hospital bed in Calumet Mercy Hospital.
Scully pushes back the curtain and holds his hand which is strapped to the bed rail, she
looks at him sadly
Mulder: "Five years together, Scully. You must have seen this
coming. (laughs softly) Did you examine Backus body? What did you find?"
Scully: "More or less what we thought wed find."
Mulder: "'More or less?' What is that supposed to mean?"
Scully: "The body showed signs of decomposition beyond what we
expected to find which, in and of itself means nothing, really. Time of death is
notoriously hard to quantify."
Mulder: "Or, that Lambert was telling the truth and that man
was dead before he was gunned down."
Scully: "No, Mulder ..."
Mulder: "Scully .. When that monster, Pincus ... whatever the
hell you want to call it ... when he attacked that woman last night he did something to
the back of her neck. H-he bit her there, or he injected something in there. Theres
got to be evidence of that. You got to check for that."
Scully: "Mulder, the case is over. Theres no more
evidence to be gathered. Theres only my hope that youll be able to see past
this delusion."
Mulder: (desperate) "*You* have to be willing to see."
Scully: "I wish it were that simple."
Mulder: "Scully, you *have* to believe me. Nobody else on this
whole damn planet does or ever will. Youre my one in ... five billion."
(They look at each other, Scully still holding his hand)
Skinner: "Agent Scully, I have to say Im at a bit of a
loss here. Do I infer correctly from this that you believe theres some ... merit to
Agent Mulders claims?"
Scully: "I believe that Agent Mulder is mentally sound and fit
for duty. Aside from that belief, I can only present to you the few hard facts that
Ive been able to gather. That, as per Agent Mulders assertions a toxin has
been found to have been injected into the spine of the shooting victim, Mark Backus. As of
yet, weve been unable to identify it. Furthermore, Gregory Pincus has apparently
disappeared without a trace along with half a dozen other key witnesses integral to this
investigation ... among them, Agent Mulders nurse at the hospital and several
VinylRight employees."
Skinner: "Men and women described by Mulder as zombies."
Scully: (sighs) "I can personally vouch for the fact that there
was an intruder in Agent Mulders hospital room."
Skinner: "Describe this intruder."
Scully: (pause) "It was dark."
Skinner: "You must have gotten a glimpse. What did you
see?"
(Now we see Scully join Mulder at the elevator)
Mulder: "What did you tell him?"
Scully: "The truth .. as well as I understand it."
Mulder: "Which is?" (they enter the elevator)
Scully: "Folie A Deux. A madness shared by two." (elevator
doors close)
Trifft Computerfreak A Kumpel B
B nuschelt: "Rechner läuft schon seit 'ner Woche stabil mit WIN ME..."
fragt A lachend zurück: "Warst wohl auf Urlaub, eh...??" Anonymous