The X-Files - 5.

German title: Die Pine-Bluff-Variante
translation: The Pine-Bluff-Variant

Japanese title: Undercover

Spanish title: Bacterias para la Muerte
translation: Bacteria For The Death

US Airdate: May 3, 1998

writer: John Shiban

director: Rob Bowman

STARRING:

David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder

Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully

Mitch Pileggi as Assistant Director Walter Skinner

Guest Cast:

Daniel Von Bargen as Haley

J.B. Bivens as Field Agent

Armin Moattar as Goatee Man

Sam Anderson as Leamus

Michael MacRae as August Bremer

Kate Braidwood as the Usherette

Trevor Roald as Martin

Kett Turton as Brit

Douglas Arthurs as Skin-head Man

John B. Lowe as Dr. Leavitt

Michael St. John Smith as CIA Operative

In a nutshell, Mulder goes undercover as a terrorist and Scully works with Skinner, oooooo!

We open with Mulder jogging in a park, working undercover as he watches two men on a park bench exchange an envelope. Scully's in a van with Skinner and some other agents watching it all on video surveillance. As one of the men takes the envelope from the other, he falls to the ground. The other man yells out for help, then takes off as people arrive to answer the call. We watch as the collapsed man's skin begins to melt off (ewwww!). Mulder begins to chase the other man through the woods, even though he's told to stay put. Scully runs after them and sees the man get into a car and leave. She then sees Mulder arrive at the scene, from a completely different direction than he should, and he tells her that he lost the suspect. Scully looks at him, knowing he must be lying.

Our agents are called into a council meeting with Skinner to explain what happened, how the man got away and what the heck happened to the dead guy in the park. The envelope was apparently full of money and the dead man was using it to buy biological weapons. He worked with another terrorist, whose picture is shown via a slide projector. The council asks how the terrorist escaped, but no one answers, Scully just looks at Mulder with suspicion burning in her eyes. After the meeting ends, she

calls to Mulder, but he ignores her.

Later that evening, Scully follows Mulder to a motel, finds out he used an alias to book a room and sits outside in her car, watching. Inside the room, Mulder talks on the phone to the terrorist he let escape, who accuses Mulder of setting him up. Assuring him that he didn't, they arrange to meet and Scully watches as a car pulls up and Mulder leaves.

Scully is following in her car when she's forced off the road by another car. She tries to back up, but is boxed in by yet another car (they're everywhere!). A man calls her by name and tells her to get out of her car. She's taken to an office where Skinner and a CIA Agent from the earlier meeting are waiting for her. She's spitting fire (no, not literally, she's very angry) and they fill her in. Mulder's working

undercover with these terrorists, trying to join them and find out the purpose of the biological weapons.

Look out, MulderTorture! ahead .... we see him get out of a car, his head covered with a hood as he's lead into a warehouse. Inside, he's shackled to a table and the hood is removed. Mulder now sees the man he let go in the park seated in front of him. The terrorist's henchman is sitting next to Mulder and he grabs Mulder's left wrist, taking his pinky finger in his hand. The terrorist asks Mulder questions, believing him to be a spy, which he answers, but the henchman begins to bend his pinky back, eventually breaking it (ouch!). Mulder becomes more and more enranged, finally head-butting the henchman to the floor. The terrorist finally says he believes him and asks Mulder to get him something from the FBI ... the following day's schedule for Federal Bank money transfers.

Next we see a movie theater in Ohio, the terrorist we saw in the slide show buys a ticket and goes inside. He distracts the concession stand girl, asking her to make fresh popcorn, puts on a pair of gloves and takes a spray can from his pocket. Later that day, we see two boys waiting outside the theater for the concession stand girl to finish work. Getting tired of waiting, they force open the door's lock and enter the theater. They sit down in the front row and look behind them ... everyone else is dead, their flesh melted away!

Scully waits at Mulder's apartment for him and tells him she knows everything when he returns home. She helps him mend his broken finger (nice stuff for the 'shippers) and tells him about the 14 people killed by the terrorists' biotoxin in the movie theater. Mulder says he doesn't know what they're up to yet, but he thinks the terrorist he talked to is planning something with another accomplice and the terrorist involved with the theater job is more important. Unbeknownst to our agents, that man sits outside Mulder's apartment listening to their every word.

At the movie theater crime scene, Scully speculates that the poison must have been passed via touch and the concession stand. Mulder thinks the bank schedules must be needed for a planned bank robbery to pay for enough of this chemical to make a bomb.

After delivering the bank schedule, Mulder is taken back to the warehouse, where he's given a Dracula mask to wear. He's going along on the bank robbery! They all enter the bank wearing masks, everyone is told to get on the floor as one of the men starts to work on the safe. A security guard is shot by one of the terrorists as he reaches for an alarm. Mulder goes to check on him and when asked if he's dead, he shakes his head "no". The group leader tells Mulder to finish him off and he raises his gun, the guard looking at him with terror in his eyes. After too much hesitation, another of the terrorists moves Mulder out of the way and shoots the guard dead. Inside the now-open safe, we see all the money being sprayed with the biotoxin.

With the help of a chemical expert, Scully determines that the weapon was made in the US, by our own government! She calls Skinner to tell him, and he's meeting with the CIA Agent in his office. Off the speakerphone, she tells him what she's learned.

As the gang gathers after the robbery to burn stacks of money, Mulder realizes that the robbery was merely a decoy, they only took a small amount of cash, the rest was sprayed with the biotoxin. As the second terrorist gets ready to kill Mulder, the leader steps in to stop him, reminding him that Mulder came through with the bank schedules, he's on their side. Mulder warns the leader that the second terrorist wants to kill him to cover up his own double-dealing (the terrorist's, not Mulder's). The second terrorist denies it all and brings out the tape he made of Mulder and Scully talking in his apartment.

Luckily, Scully's on top of things and is desperately searching for where Mulder is. They begin viewing all the security camera videos taken at banks robbed that day. If she can't find the right bank, the money may be distributed, killing all it touches!

Next we see Mulder and the lead terrorist on their knees. The second terrorist comes up behind them and gives the leader the keys to his car, telling him to beat it, then takes Mulder to a greenhouse. Once there, Mulder's back on his knees again and the finger-breaking henchman points a gun at the back of his head. He closes his eyes ... a shot rings out ... the henchman is shot dead by the second terrorist. He tells Mulder that a car is waiting for him and he better leave before they kill them both.

Mulder arrives at the bank, Scully's there waiting and the area's been quarantined, they got to the bank on time and none of the money was distributed. Whew! It was going to be taken away and locked up in a facility . Scully then tells him about the weapon being homemade by our government and Mulder says the second terrorist must have been testing it for the government on small groups of people, preparing for something much bigger. (HINT: The Movie ...) Having overheard, the CIA Agent tells Mulder there's nothing he can do about it, even if he is right. Mulder fires back that the guy's as dirty as that toxic money.

In the final scene, we catch up with the lead terrorist as he races down the road in his car ... but not for long. The car begins to swerve, it leaves the road and the horn starts to blare. He's dead, the car keys dangle, his flesh has melted ... the keys were poisoned!

Notes

Kate Braidwood, listed as the Usherette, is Tom Braidwood's (Frohike) daughter.

Sources tell me there are at least two real-life towns the title may be based on: Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. Strangely enough, both towns have a history of chemical and biological warfare AND they both contain ICBM launching sites. What is it about the name "Pine Bluff"?

This page is not complete yet, thanks for your patience.

Quotes

Scully: "I came in early. I wanted to take a look at the surveillance tape to make sure I wasn’t crazy. What happened out there, Mulder?"

Mulder: " 'What happened?' "

Scully: "There were 12 agents yesterday in the park. We had ownership of the suspect. We were in position to make the capture and you let him get away. And from what I see now, you may have aided in his escape."

Mulder: (not looking at her) "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Scully: "It’s on the video, Mulder. I can’t prove it was you, but I know what I saw. This man is a murderer. He is a terrorist. I have a report to give this morning. I expect you to give me an answer. I expect you to tell me the truth."

Mulder: "We’re late for the hearing."

____________________________________________________________

In his motel room, Mulder's phone rings

Mulder: "Yeah?"

Haley: "You set me up."

Mulder: "I saved your ass."

Haley: "Then why wasn’t I told?"

Mulder: "I didn’t know about the operation."

Haley: "It was your operation."

Mulder: "No. The Justice Department got an anonymous tip. I found out a half hour before it went down. I did what I could."

Haley: "You’ll have to do better than that, Mulder."

Mulder: "What else can I say? I-I got as much to lose here as you do. They catch you, you’ll flip me. Look, I believe in your ideals and your goals but the only reason I tolerate your methods is because the government’s are worse."

Haley: "Wow. What a ringing endorsement."

Mulder: "Hey, you came to me, remember? I mean, what more do you want from me? I’ve risked everything. I’ve given you information. My partner is seriously suspicious. If that’s not enough for you, that’s all I’ve got." (he hangs up)

____________________________________________________________

Scully: "Maybe you can tell me what’s going on."

Motel Manager: "What?"

Scully: "There seems to be a problem. A man just told me you gave him keys to my room, room 130."

Manager: "Who are you?"

Scully: "Who am I? Who is he?"

Manager: "Mr. uh, Kaplan."

Scully: "Mr. Kaplan."

Manager: "Yes."

Scully: "Thank you." (starts to leave)

Manager: "Are you the wife?"

Scully: "Not even close."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder is wearing a hood as he's taken to a warehouse. His hands are strapped to a table where he's seated.

Mulder: "Ooh. Is this the Pepsi challenge? How ’bout some, uh, fresh air, boys?"

(the hood is removed)

Haley: "Welcome, Agent Mulder."

Mulder: "Okay, deal me in."

(a thug grabs Mulder's left pinky and holds it in his fist)

Haley: "This is just a little method that we use to learn the truth."

Mulder: "Well, you might want to put that hood back on me unless you want to see a grown man cry."

Haley: "What happened in the park?"

Mulder: "I told you on the phone."

(the thug twists and breaks Mulder's finger, he screams in pain)

Mulder: "I was set up. I’m telling the truth. Wait, wait! Wait! I let you go!"

Haley: "You’re spying on us, aren’t you?"

Mulder: "No. No. No. (Mulder's finger is twisted again, he screams) You want me to lie and say yes? (another twist and scream) (to the thug) I’m going to kill you, you son of a bitch! I’m going to kill you! (to Haley) If I set you up you think I’d even get into the car with this Nazi piece of shi..! (another twist, Mulder yells and headbutts the thug, knocking him to the floor) I risked everything! If I was lying, there’d be federal agents descending on this place like the wrath of God right now. (to the thug) If you touch me again, you’d better kill me!"

____________________________________________________________

Mulder enters his dark apartment looking at his broken finger

Scully: "Don’t be alarmed."

Mulder: "Scully, get out of here."

Scully: "Mulder ..."

Mulder: "Get out of here!"

Scully: "I know what you’re doing. Skinner told me everything."

Mulder: "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Scully: "What happened to your hand?"

Mulder: "Nothing."

(Scully takes Mulder's hand to inspect the damage and Mulder winces in pain)

Scully: "Oh, Mulder, what did they do to you? God, this needs to be set. You’re in pain."

(Scully heads for the kitchen, holding onto Mulder by the finger)

Mulder: "Yeah, if you keep pulling it around like that."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: (leaving the room to meet the terrorists) "If you don’t hear from me by midnight - feed my

fish."

____________________________________________________________

Bremer: "You’re a believer?"

Mulder: "I have my beliefs."

Bremer: "You willing to die for them?"

Mulder: "I’d prefer it didn’t come to that."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder and Haley are on their knees with Bremer holding a gun on them

Bremer: (to Mulder) "We’ve made some decisions. (Bremer places a leather pouch of keys on top of Haley's head) (to Haley) Take it and get out of here. I don’t want to see your face again. Go. (Haley gets up, gets in the care and leaves) (to Mulder) On your feet."

Mulder: "I don’t need a car. You can just call me a cab, that’d be fine."

____________________________________________________________

Scully: "Mulder, before you go any further you should know that the biotoxin they used may have come from government labs. Our government."

Mulder: "You’re saying I was set up?"

Skinner: "We have no definitive information to justify that position."

Mulder: "I was being used? This whole operation? The people who died in that theatre?"

CIA Agent: (walks over to them) "Agent Mulder. Our government is not in the business of killing innocent civilians."

Mulder: "The hell they aren’t. Those were tests on us to be used on someone else."

CIA Agent: "Those bills have been analyzed. The money in the vault gave no readings. There’s absolutely no evidence of any biotoxins. So, before you climb on any bandwagon ..."

Scully: "You knew about this all along. You knew about this the whole time!"

Mulder: "I want that money rechecked."

CIA Agent: "That money has been cleared. It’s being used as evidence in a federal crime."

Mulder: "That money’s as dirty as you are, isn’t it. Isn’t it?"

CIA Agent: "Say that were true. Then what do you hope to accomplish, Agent Mulder, as a whistle-blower? To mobilize a civil rights action? To bring down the federal government? To do the very work that group you were a part of is so bent on doing? What do you want? Laws against those men, or laws protecting them?"

Mulder: "I want people to know the truth."

CIA Agent: "Well sometimes our job is to protect those people from knowing it. Excuse me."