German title: Die Wurzeln des Bösen
translation: (double meaning):
The Roots Of Evil
The Origin Of Evil
Japanese title: Bunretsu
translation: Paranoid
Spanish title: Agonía Esquizofrenica
US Airdate: January 11, 1998
writers: Jessica Scott and Mike Wollaeger
director: Ralph Hemecker
SCENE 1
COATS GROVE, MICHIGAN 10:05 PM (BOBBY RICHs room. BOBBY
RICH, a stringy-haired 16 year old is playing a video game. Walls are covered with posters
indicating this kid is a bit of an outsider. Outside, pickup truck drives up. PHIL RICH,
40s, gets out and sees shovel stuck in the ground. He is pissed. He goes inside. His wife,
PATTI, is downstairs.)
PHIL: Bobby!
PATTI: Phil .
PHIL: Ive had it with that kid, Patti.
PATTI: Ive already talked to him.
PHIL: Yeah, like he ever listens.
(PHIL goes upstairs to BOBBYs room.)
PHIL: You hear me calling your name? (pulls headset off of
BOBBY) Get up.
BOBBY: What are you doing?
PHIL: You think this is why I wake up and go to work every
day -- So you can sit around on your ass?
BOBBY: What did I do?
PHIL: Whatd you do? You never do anything, thats
the problem. What kind of a loser are you going to turn out to be? ( hands him boots) Put
your boots on.
(Night. Outside the house. PHIL and BOBBY look at shovel
stuck in the ground.)
PHIL: You dont leave my tools out in the rain. Tools
are for work. They cost money.
BOBBY: Fine, Ill put it away.
PHIL: After youre finished. Pick it up. Im not
going to let your mother watch you grow up to be some kind of a jerk. (hands him shovel)
BOBBY: Fine, Ill put it away Phil.
PHIL: No way. Youll finish the job Now.
BOBBY: (angry) Get away from me! Get away from me now!
(BOBBY drops the shovel and runs into the orchard. PHIL
follows him.)
PHIL: Bobby! Bobby! Where are you going?! Bobby! Come back
here!
(BOBBY sees the OLD ORCHARD MAN standing nearby holding an
axe.)
PHIL: (running through the orchard) Come here! Bobby! Bobby!
Bobby! Bobby? Bobby?
(PHIL suddenly trips on a root and begins sliding into the
mud beneath him. BOBBY watches.)
PATTI: (running up to them) Bobby?! Bobby?!
(PATTI watches as BOBBY tries to hold onto PHIL as PHIL
slides down in to the mud, drowning.)
Opening Credits Mulder Whooo. Scully rocks.
SCENE 2 DEPARTMENT OF THE CORONER 11:08 AM (SCULLY in autopsy
scrubs is weighing a lot of mud in hanging scale. MULDER is observing the autopsy.)
SCULLY: 12 pounds, 9 ounces.
MULDER: All that came out of his stomach?
SCULLY: Most of it. The small amount in his lungs is what
killed him.
MULDER: Is it possible that he took the term "mud
pie" literally?
SCULLY: Well, Im sure if Mr. Rich were alive he would
find some humor in that. According to his police report, Mr. Rich was a man who could tell
a joke. He grew up here. Worked the same fields for 20 years. Well liked around town.
Funny he should turn up murdered.
MULDER: Is that what youve concluded?
SCULLY: What I have concluded is that this mans head
was held forcibly down in the Michigan mud just a little too long. Most likely by his
stepson who was named in the report as Bobby Rich. Age 16.
MULDER: Well, according to the same report the coroner had to
hire a backhoe to remove the body, which was buried completely in a standing vertical
position.
SCULLY: There is some indication that his stepson may have
dug the hole and that a recent rainstorm may have helped turn it into a muddy trap.
MULDER: That was some rainstorm.
SCULLY: They say it rained 400 inches a day.
MULDER: Now that sounds like an exaggeration, dont you
think?
SCULLY: Would you like me to show you how he may have done
it?
MULDER: How a 64" 250-pound man was buried alive
in less than five minutes by a 16-year-old kid whose classmates lovingly refer to as
"Dork-weed?" (CarriK: Duchovny actually says "Dickweed." Thank you
censors. Sigh.)
SCULLY: (showing bruise on PHILs ankle) He may have had
an accomplice.
SCENE 3 (RICH house. BOBBYs room. MULDER is
interviewing BOBBY.)
MULDER: (looking at one of BOBBYs posters) "Ich
bin ein auslander." "I am an outsider." You know, when Kennedy told the
Germans "Ich bin ein Berliner" he was actually saying "I am a cocktail
sausage."
BOBBY: (not getting it) Whos Kennedy?
MULDER: (after a second of "Oh, man, Im old"
realization) Im not Im not here to accuse you of anything, Bobby.
BOBBY: What are you here for then?
MULDER: I want to hear your story.
BOBBY: I tried to help. I couldnt.
MULDER: Well, the police arent entirely convinced that
thats the truth.
BOBBY: So what the hell am I supposed to do about it? They
want me to confess so they have someone to blame.
MULDER: Right. But you see, youre not making it very
easy for them to believe otherwise. You understand that?
BOBBY: What can I say? Everybody knows I hated him.
(Downstairs, SCULLY is interviewing PATTI.)
PATTI: They were real close when Bobby was little. Always
kidding around and stuff. But Bobby sort of got into that teenage stage He
dont want to listen to nobody.
SCULLY: And it came to a head last night?
PATTI: Phil was late coming home. Hed been stressed out
cause of the blight and stuff.
SCULLY: What do you mean?
PATTI: His nut trees all got a disease. And Bobby dont
help things out with his attitude and stuff.
SCULLY: Did Phil instigate what happened?
PATTI: Its hard to tell what starts these things. Phil
could be stern just like his own father was to him. But I never saw him raise his
hand.
(Upstairs.)
BOBBY: When I saw him lying in the mud, I mean, I half
expected him to pull me in. Like he had planned it or something.
MULDER: Did he ever hurt you?
BOBBY: Phil? He used to get off shoving me around, yeah.
MULDER: Did you ever shove him back?
BOBBY: Hes twice as big as me.
MULDER: Thats why some people thought you might have
dug the hole. Or attacked him when he fell in the hole because he was down there.
BOBBY: Well, thats their problem, isnt it?
MULDER: You remember what was going through your head at the
time?
BOBBY: I guess I felt he had it coming.
(Downstairs.)
PATTI: He was kneeling over Phil struggling real hard
and stuff.
SCULLY: Could you tell that he was definitely trying to help
him?
PATTI: It seemed that way to me.
SCULLY: You know, theres a strong chance the police are
going to arrest your son for murder.
PATTI: I dont see how.
SCULLY: But if they do, and if theres evidence of abuse
that youre not coming forward with, it could hurt his chances.
PATTI: I know everything happens for a reason, but I still
dont see no reason for this.
SCENE 4 (Outside the RICH house. Close up of a thorn on a
tree. MULDER touches it and finds very red sap. Looks like blood.)
SCULLY: (coming out of house) Theyre all dying.
According to Bobbys mother, thats a big reason why her husband blew up. His
hazelnut orchard was hit with a blight.
(MULDER and SCULLY walk through the orchard.)
MULDER: So he pounds the kid. And the kid pounds back. Is
that what she told you?
SCULLY: Well not in so many words. Actually, she wont
admit to any abuse in the house. I suspect shes just trying to move on and protect
what family shes got left.
MULDER: Kid says his stepfather teed off on him regularly.
SCULLY: Thats his excuse?
MULDER: No, thats his explanation. He says hes
innocent.
SCULLY: What do you think?
MULDER: I think hes a hard kid to love.
(They get to the place where the father died. The mud has
been dug out, leaving a ten foot deep hole.)
MULDER: Im still finding it hard to reconcile the facts
with the physical evidence.
SCULLY: Well, even if he didnt dig this hole, the
disease could have killed root systems creating weakened soil.
(MULDER climbs down into the hole.)
MULDER: Well, then how did the victim swallow 12 pounds of
this stuff?
SCULLY: Well, when you fight for air a vacuum is created. And
maybe once he sucked down a mouthful of mud it turned his esophagus into a siphon. With
his head pushed down, it filled all of his passages like a gas can.
(MULDER grins at her and nods, laughing at her theory.)
SCULLY: Well you asked me for answers. Those are the
best ones Ive got.
MULDER: Did you ask if anybody else might be involved?
SCULLY: His mother says that Bobby cant make friends.
Hes been in therapy for his anger since 1995.
MULDER: That could be me.
(SCULLY sees OLD ORCHARD MAN standing watching them about 30
yards away.)
MULDER: What is it?
SCULLY: Someones watching us. Sir? Hello.
(As MULDER climbs out of the hole, his foot catches on a
root. By the time he gets it free and finishes climbing out of the hole, OLD ORCHARD MAN
has disappeared into the trees.)
MULDER: Who was it?
SCULLY: I dont know. Hes gone.
SCENE 5 (High school hallway. Bell rings. LISA BAIOCCHI
passes BOBBY on the way to her locker.)
BOBBY: Lisa. Hey.
LISA: What are you doing here?
BOBBY: I - I called you last night. I mean, how come you
didnt call me back?
LISA: Theyre saying you killed him, Bobby.
BOBBY: I finally stood up to him.
TEEN 1: Hey, Psycho. (slams LISAs locker closed) Think
fast.
BOBBY: Just get away from me, okay?
TEEN 1: (grabbing BOBBY) Or what? What are you going to do,
huh?
BOBBY: Maybe Ill kill you, too, huh?
TEEN 1: (laughs nervously) Psycho killer. (walks away)
BOBBY: See All you got to do is stand up. Ill see
you later, then.
(LISA walks away, nervously. BOBBY runs down Hall.))
SCENE 6 (KARIN MATTHEWS house. MULDER knocks.)
MULDER: Karin Matthews?
KARIN: Yes.
SCULLY: Were Agents Mulder and Scully with the FBI.
KARIN: I hope my directions were clear. Im a little
tucked away.
(They enter the house.)
KARIN: I first worked with Bobby after an incident at school.
Hes had difficulty developing relationships and this difficulty has caused him to
act out.
SCULLY: In what way?
KARIN: By putting on certain airs. Affecting an attitude that
has drawn the wrong kind of attention to himself. Ive seen him come in here pretty
beaten up.
MULDER: Physical violence?
KARIN: More than just kid stuff.
MULDER: Was his stepfather ever involved?
KARIN: Im not free to speak with perfect frankness, of
course.
SCULLY: If you know that Bobby committed a crime, youre
under legal obligation to tell us.
KARIN: Bobby once spilled a glass of milk at dinner. For the
next two weeks, he was forced to eat in the cellar. No table, no chair, no light.
Sometimes he was left down there until the following morning. You see, there are all sorts
of crimes. (MULDER notices mud on KARINs shoes.) Not just the ones you might find
reason to investigate.
MULDER: So youre saying Bobby would have good reason to
kill his father.
KARIN: Im saying there are some crimes where there are
only victims.
MULDER: Youre free not to answer, Miss Matthews
or youre free to make these vague allusions but your evasiveness is only
going to land this kid in jail for a long, long time.
KARIN: Im not sure I understand.
MULDER: You make it sound like a justification. Like Bobby
did it. And I dont think he did.
SCENE 7 (Night. LISA walking alone along a dark road toward
her house. BOBBY drives up in his truck. Loud music on the truck radio.)
BOBBY: Hey. What are you doing?
LISA: Going home.
BOBBY: Well, I waited for you. I thought I thought we
were going to talk. So
LISA: You scared me today, Bobby.
BOBBY: Why? Was it because I stood up for myself or, um
because I didnt let them beat me up like usual?
LISA: I got to go.
BOBBY: You got to stand up, Lisa. You got to tell your Dad
that youre not going to put up with his crap. There is a way to make it go away
forever.
(She walks on to her house. BOBBY stays parked outside. She
enters the house. Her FATHER is waiting for her.)
FATHER: What the hell business you got with him?
LISA: Nothin. Hes just a friend.
(LISA goes up to her room. FATHER follows.)
FATHER: I dont want you seeing that kid. I dont
want him coming around here. Do you hear me?
LISA: Stop it, okay?
FATHER: Im doing whats right for you
LISA: Just shut up!
(LISA goes out of the room and slams the door.)
(FATHER goes to the window and looks out. His face registers
shock. Something comes at the window. Loud crash. LISA comes back into the room. The
window is shattered. She goes to the broken window and looks down. Her FATHER lies dead on
the ground.)
(Commercial 1.)
SCENE 8 (Day. Outside LISAs house. MULDER pieces
together a smiley faces sticker that was on the broken window.)
SCULLY: The victim's name was Eugene Baiocchi,
forties. He was a foreman for one of the local growers. Single parent.
MULDER: Did you get a look at the body?
SCULLY: It had already been removed. I think its pretty
clear what killed him, though. From what theyve put together, theyve all but
concluded he was pushed out the window.
MULDER: Pushed out?
SCULLY: His daughter Lisa made the 911 call at 8:08 p.m. She
says she and her father had a fight.
MULDER: About what?
SCULLY: Bobby.
(Inside the house, KAREN is sitting with LISA.)
KARIN: (quietly) I dont want you to worry about
anything, all right? Now, Ill be here for you as much as possible. But theyre
going to come and ask you some questions and the most important thing is that you feel
comfortable. If you dont fell comfortable answering them, then I dont want you
to answer them, okay?
(MULDER and SCULLY enter the house.)
SCULLY: Can I have a moment with Lisa?
(MULDER and KAREN walk out onto porch leaving SCULLY and LISA
inside.)
MULDER: Was Lisa another of your clients?
KARIN: Lisa?
MULDER: Yeah.
KARIN: Yes, for four years.
MULDER: What were you treating her for?
KARIN: An eating disorder.
MULDER: Have you asked her what happened?
KARIN: Isnt that your job?
MULDER: We gather that she had a fight with her father over
Bobby Rich.
KARIN: Well, it doesnt surprise me. Lisas father
was very disapproving of her generally which stemmed to a lot of her problems.
MULDER: Had you counseled her father?
KARIN: No. My approach is with the victims solely to allow
them to empower themselves.
MULDER: In what ways?
KARIN: By breaking the cycle of abuse. By owning it. By
confronting it and by standing up against it.
MULDER: Seems to be working.
KARIN: When I told Lisa her aunt was coming to pick her up
tomorrow, she started to cry. It wasnt out of sorrow.
(Later, MULDER and SCULLY are investigating the house
upstairs.)
SCULLY: Three guesses who followed Lisa home last night and
was sitting out front in his fathers truck just minutes before this happened.
MULDER: Does she think Bobby did it?
SCULLY: She thinks hes quite capable.
MULDER: I think were all quite capable.
SCULLY: Well, she says that he also threatened to kill a boy
in school yesterday.
MULDER: Come here. (SCULLY joins him at the broken window.)
Take a look at this. If Lisas father was pushed out, then all the glass would be
outside. Look. Theres glass here on the inside. The paint on the mullions is cracked
on the outside, not on the inside here.
SCULLY: I dont understand.
MULDER: Well, seems to me like some facts have been assumed.
It looks to me like Lisas father was pulled out the window, not pushed.
SCULLY: How?
MULDER: That I dont know.
SCULLY: Well, theres nowhere to stand. Even if he did
use a ladder thered be no leverage. I mean, especially for a scrawny 16-year-old
kid.
MULDER: Thats my point exactly.
SCENE 9 (High school science class.)
TEACHER: . Na-O-H and hydrochloric acid. All
right, class. There will be a quiz on this tomorrow, so take good notes. Now
(SCULLY and police enter.)
TEACHER: May I help you?
SCULLY: Sorry to interrupt. (to BOBBY) I need to ask you to
come with us, please.
BOBBY: (lots of attitude) What for?
SCULLY: To answer some questions.
BOBBY: About what?
SCULLY: I dont want to have to embarrass you in front
of your class.
BOBBY: Well, I aint embarrassed.
(BOBBY gets up leisurely and goes with SCULLY and the
police.)
CORONER: Im fairly certain that this man died from a
broken neck.
MULDER: Yeah, but there was a substantial amount of blood
loss, wasnt there?
CORONER: Yes, but the cuts all missed the artery. I have
x-rays, if you dont believe me. Its the fourth and fifth vertebrae.
MULDER: Have you determined if the neck injury was caused by
the fall?
CORONER: Well, what else would it have been?
(MULDER finds a sliver of wood imbedded in the FATHERs
neck. CarriK: Sliver is HUGE! This coroner must be a loser.)
MULDER: Have you seen this? What do you make of this here?
CORONER: (looking at sliver, intrigued and confused) Huh.
SCENE 11 (High School classroom. SCULLY is looking at
BOBBYs forearms.)
BOBBY: Are you satisfied?
SCULLY: No, Im not.
(MULDER enters the classroom holding the sliver of wood in an
evidence bag.)
MULDER: Scully?
BOBBY: What is that?
MULDER: (pointing to the word on the bag) Evidence.
BOBBY: Of what?
(MULDER doesnt answer. He turns to speak privately with
SCULLY.)
SCULLY: (quietly) You just trying to scare him?
MULDER: (quietly) No. I think hes scared enough as it
is.
SCULLY: (quietly) Of what?
(MULDER shows SCULLY the bloody splinter.)
SCENE 12 (Night. LISAs house. KARIN and LISA enter.)
KARIN: Ill help getting the rest of your things packed.
But I think its best that you go to your aunts as soon as possible.
LISA: Whend she say she was coming?
KARIN: First thing in the morning. Feel it. Its okay.
Come on.
SCENE 12A (Later, LISA is lying awake in bed in KARINs
house. She hears a strange deep angry voice in the hall.)
DEEP VOICE: You never learn!
KARIN: (voice) Im sorry. Please, just dont yell.
DEEP VOICE: Whatll you ever amount to?
KARIN: (voice) No. Stop it. Stop it.
DEEP VOICE: Where are you going?
KARIN: (voice) Up to my room.
DEEP VOICE: Youre ruining my life. You hear me? I wish
youd never been born!
(LISA looks out into the hall and sees KARIN going into a
bedroom. No one else is with her.)
SCENE 13 (Night. Outside LISAs house. MULDER and SCULLY
where LISAs father fell.)
SCULLY: What are you looking for?
MULDER: That splinter youre holding came from Mr.
Baiocchis neck but it didnt come from the broken window.
SCULLY: Where did it come from?
MULDER: Its greenwood, fresh from a living tree.
SCULLY: What?
MULDER: Excuse me. Its been a few years.
(MULDER uses a rope to climb a tree near the window.)
SCULLY: What? You think that Bobby climbed this tree to pull
Lisas father out of that window?
MULDER: Kind of begs the question, doesnt it? (up in
the tree) Hey, Scully, is this demonstration of boyish agility turning you on at all?
(OLD ORCHARD MAN carrying an axe startles SCULLY.)
SCULLY: Who are you?
OLD ORCHARD MAN: I take care of the trees.
MULDER: (from the tree) Scully.
SCULLY: I didnt expect you to be standing right there
behind me. You were watching us the other day in the orchard.
OLD ORCHARD MAN: The trees are dying.
MULDER: (from the tree) Scully
SCULLY: Maybe you should come down here, Mulder. (to OLD MAN,
holding out wood splinter) You, uh, know what kind of tree this came from?
OLD ORCHARD MAN: Same as this tree.
(MULDER jumps down and comes to stand beside SCULLY.)
SCULLY: You, uh you said these trees were dying. This,
this splinters live wood.
(OLD ORCHARD MAN suddenly swings axe at tree. Red sap flows
out.)
OLD ORCHARD MAN: 20 years ago this happened.
MULDER: What causes this?
OLD ORCHARD MAN: A very bad man.
SCENE 14 (KARINs house. LISA walks through the kitchen
to the cellar door. Muddy footprints are on the floor. She slowly opens the door and goes
down the stairs. The floor is muddy. She sees a pair of feet. Light pops on at head of
stairs.)
DEEP VOICE: (outside the cellar door) Shes just like
you a little snoop! Where is she?
(Door slams shut.)
(Commercial 2.)
SCENE 15 (Day. KARINs house. MULDER and SCULLY knock.
KARIN opens the door.)
MULDER: Ms. Matthews, wed like to ask you a few
questions.
KARIN: About what?
MULDER: Your fathers death. We need to clarify a few
details.
KARIN: My father? He died twenty years ago
MULDER: Yeah, under rather curious circumstances. His body
was pulled from the mud of an orchard?
KARIN: I-Im sorry, I was just a-a young girl. I
dont know why you want to talk to me.
MULDER: Well, we thought it was strange that you didnt
bother to mention it.
KARIN: Well, I dont see that it matters.
MULDER: We spoke to someone who thinks it does. Someone who
worked for your father? According to the orchard man, your fathers death brought
about the end of a blight affecting the trees.
KARIN: My father was a powerful man. Powerful men are prone
to inspire this kind of fantasy. Dont tell me youve been taken in by it, too.
SCULLY: Is Lisa still staying with you?
KARIN: No, shes not. Shes gone to her
aunts. Look, Im sorry. I cant help.
(KARIN closes the door. MULDER and SCULLY return to their
car. In the cellar, LISA bangs on the window.)
LISA: Help me! Im down here! Help!
KARIN: (behind cellar door, whispering) Lisa . Lisa.
(LISA runs up to the door.)
LISA: Karin Karin! Karin! Karin.
KARIN: (behind cellar door, whispering) Lisa, youve got
to be quiet quiet as a mouse or hes going to hear you down there.
LISA: Karin, Im scared. Let me out, please.
KARIN: (behind door, whispering) I will, but not until
its safe.
LISA: Karin, Karin, I dont want to stay down here.
Please let me out. Karin
SCENE 16 (Dusk. Graveyard. MULDER is digging up KARINs
FATHERs grave. Scully watches.)
SCULLY: Mulder, whatever youre hoping we find here
without a court order, it wont be admissible.
MULDER: Im not expecting it to be.
(MULDER gets the coffin open. There is no body. The coffin is
completely filled with tree roots.)
SCULLY: Mulder Wheres the body?
SCENE 17 (KARINs house. AUNT LINDA drives up in a
Volvo. She knocks at the door. KARIN answers.)
KARIN: Yes?
AUNT LINDA: Im Linda Baiocchi. Lisas aunt. Are
you Karin?
KARIN: Yes
AUNT LINDA: Is Lisa here?
KARIN: No. She went Shes gone to the bus
station.
AUNT LINDA: She has? But it was all arranged
KARIN: I dont know what to tell you. Im sorry.
There must have been a misunderstanding.
(KARIN closes the door. Frustrated, AUNT LINDA returns to her
car. She hears LISA break the cellar window.)
LISA: Im down here! Help me! Aunt Linda, Im down
here!
(AUNT LINDA goes to the broken cellar window and kneels down
to talk to LISA.)
AUNT LINDA: What are you doing down there?
LISA: Just get me out, please?
AUNT LINDA: Okay. Itll be okay. Im going to call
the police.
(AUNT LINDA gasps as a tree limb stabs her from behind
through the chest, killing her. Very gory. LISA screams.)
SCENE 18 (Night. MULDER and SCULLY walking back to their car
from the graveyard, MULDER carrying a shovel.)
SCULLY: Mulder, you still havent answered my question.
What happened to Karins father? Why would anybody steal his body?
MULDER: I dont think this was an act of grave robbing,
Scully. (puts shovel in trunk of car)
SCULLY: No. Thats what we were doing.
MULDER: More like an act of nature.
SCULLY: What do you mean?
(MULDER and SCULLY stand outside car as it rains and they
miraculously dont get wet!)
MULDER: The orchard man said that the blight that plagues
this town was caused by a man implying a connection.
SCULLY: Im a little afraid to ask what kind of
connection.
MULDER: Between the people of this valley and their
livelihood : the trees. Look at the victims, Scully.
SCULLY: Bobbys father, Lisas father
MULDER: And Karins father, 20 years ago: all men who
worked in these orchards -- their lives and deaths tied to these trees. We removed a
sliver of greenwood from Lisas fathers neck. And the bruise that you found on
Bobbys fathers ankle could have been caused by a root -- The same root system
that pulled Karins father from his grave.
SCULLY: Mulder, there is a connection between these deaths
one that provides a clear motive and intent: These were abused children
MULDER: Who couldnt defend themselves.
SCULLY: What? So nature did it for them?
MULDER: Something did it for them or someone
controlling nature. Karin said she was counseling Bobby and Lisa to empower them. I think
we should talk to them.
SCULLY: I called Lisa at her aunts house 20 minutes ago
and there was no answer.
MULDER: Then we should talk to Bobby.
SCULLY: Mulder, weve already questioned him twice.
MULDER: Maybe we havent asked him the right question.
(They get in the car.)
SCENE 19 (BOBBYs room. MULDER and SCULLY interviewing
BOBBY. PATTI is in the room also.)
BOBBY: I dont know what youre talking about.
MULDER: Yes, you do. Maybe you hated your stepfather, but you
didnt kill him. You dont have it in you.
BOBBY: Thats good. Thats really good. Can I go
now?
MULDER: No. You cant go until you tell me the truth.
For the first time in your life people are taking you seriously and I think they should
take you seriously. I think youre a serious kid. Not an outsider anymore, huh?
BOBBY: Yeah. Im thinking about running for ASB
president. So why dont you just give it up?
MULDER: Why dont you give it up? Why dont you
tell me what happened that night? You took the shovel to him, but you couldnt do it,
so you ran, you ran to the orchard, but not because you dug a hole or laid a trap --
(BOBBY flashback: PHIL chasing him through the orchard.)
MULDER: because you were afraid, not of Phil.
(BOBBY flashback: PHIL drowning in the mud.)
MULDER: You werent afraid of Phil Phil never hit
you or hurt you in that way. In fact, I think you wanted to help Phil.
(BOBBY flashback: PHIL screaming as he sinks into the mud.)
MULDER: You wanted to save him. You didnt want Phil to
die, did you?
(BOBBY sobbing.)
MULDER: What were you afraid of, Bobby?
BOBBY: I couldnt do it.
MULDER: Couldnt do what?
BOBBY: I couldnt stand up to him. But she made me.
MULDER: She who?
KARIN: K-Karin. Karin she-she made me, uh
(Flashback of BOBBY yelling at an emotionless KARIN.)
BOBBY: (flashback) Youre a loser! You understand me?! I
wish youd never been born!! Youre ruining my life!!
MULDER: Karin made you what?
BOBBY: She made me say those things. She had me pretend that
I was him that I was - I was Phil.
MULDER: She made you believe you were a victim but you
werent, were you?
BOBBY: She said I have the power to - to make
it all go away. But I I didnt mean for him to die.
(PATTI walks over and holds BOBBY as he cries.)
PATTI: Its okay.
SCENE 20 (KARINs basement. LISA alone and frightened.)
DEEP VOICE: (outside cellar door) You think you can hide down
there? You think youre safe?
(Door opens. KARIN stands there.)
KARIN/DEEP VOICE: Youll wish you were dead.
(Commercial 3.)
SCENE 21 KARIN MATTHEWS RESIDENCE 8:43 PM (Night.
MULDER and SCULLY arrive and enter the house. The door is not locked.)
MULDER: Karin?
(MULDER sees muddy footprints on kitchen floor.)
MULDER: Scully. Take a look at this.
(They go downstairs and find KARINs fathers body
in the cellar covered in roots as if he has been dragged through the wall.)
SCULLY: Mulder
MULDER: Talk about putting down roots.
SCULLY: What the hell is going on here?
MULDER: I think were looking at Karin Matthews
father.
SCULLY: But how did he get here?
MULDER: The same way Bobbys father got pulled down into
that mud.
SCULLY: Mulder, I
MULDER: This has to do with Karin, with her own fathers
abuse. It was never Bobby that was locked in the cellar. Karin was. Karin caused all this.
SCULLY: You think Karin is the killer?
MULDER: I think shes the killer and the victim.
(They hear a slap and a cry upstairs and run up to kitchen
where they see LISA sitting on floor crying.)
MULDER: Lisa Wheres Karin?
(LISA sobs.)
SCULLY: Youre going to be okay.
MULDER: You stay with her, Scully.
(MULDER gets in car to follow KARIN. Along a two lane road, a
tree falls in front of MULDERs car. A tree limb punches through the windshield and
the driver's seat. Fortunately, MULDER has fallen into the passenger seat. He works his
way under the limb and out the passenger door, climbs over the fallen tree and keeps
pursuing KARIN.)
SCENE 22 (BOBBYs house. KARIN knocks on the door. PATTI
answers. KARIN is hysterical.)
KARIN: I need to see Bobby.
PATTI: Im sorry. Bobbys not here.
(BOBBY listens from top of stairs.)
KARIN: (voice) Hes in danger.
PATTI: (voice) Get away from here, please.
KARIN: Bobby!
PATTI: Hes not here.
KARIN: Where is he?!
(BOBBY runs out the back and through the orchard. KARIN runs
after him.)
KARIN: Bobby! Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!
(KARIN advances on BOBBY.)
BOBBY: Stay away from me! Im warning you.
(Ground underneath BOBBY turns to mud and he begins sinking.)
KARIN/DEEP VOICE: Youre pathetic.
(MULDER comes running toward them.)
KARIN/DEEP VOICE: You little piece of garbage.
MULDER: Karin! Stop!
KARIN/DEEP VOICE: You stay away from him!
MULDER: Stand up to him!
KARIN/DEEP VOICE: Karin deserves what she gets.
MULDER: (trying to keep BOBBY from sinking into the mud, to
KARIN) Make him stop, Karin! Tell him what you should have told him 20 years ago.
Youre not going to take it anymore.
KARIN/DEEP VOICE: Karins dead.
(MULDER has now sunk into the mud with BOBBY. OLD ORCHARD MAN
comes up and swings axe and chops off KARINs head.)
OLD ORCHARD MAN: (dropping axe) Its done now. No more.
(MULDER and BOBBY up to their necks in mud watch KARINs
head and body sink into the mud. SCULLY, PATTI and LISA come running up. Under
MULDERs voiceover, SCULLY helps MULDER and PATTI and LISA help BOBBY out of the
mud.)
(Voiceover A, what was broadcast)
MULDER: Coats Grove authorities conducted a detailed
examination of the soil and root composition in the Rich family orchard, but could not
explain what pulled Karin Matthews body into the Michigan mud. Nor could the
authorities determine how the body of Karins father was pulled from its grave into
her root cellar three years earlier. While the forensic data is inconclusive, I believe
the explanation lies in hospital records dating back to Karins childhood, which
suggests that she, herself was a victim of abuse.
(Picture of KARIN and her father.)
Rage, unconfronted, takes its own path. I believe it was
Karins unconfronted rage that forced her to face her buried father. This same rage
made her imagine victims in the children around her, trying to instill in them a strength
she never found in herself. What happened to Karin Matthews in the orchard that night was
a release. Release for a victim, who, unable to face up to her own past was finally
consumed by it.
(Voiceover B , Closed Captioning)
MULDER: (voiceover) Abuse exists, as does the blindness that
accompanies it. The pleading cries in the night followed by the disturbing denial of
culpability: "If something bad happened, I didnt see it." As witness to a
horrific event, I am forced to question the frequently blurred line between right and
wrong to weigh the guilt of one mans act against anothers to decide if justice
was served or if a grievous injustice has prevailed. And if pressed on the subject of what
happened that last night in the orchard, I will speak as truthfully as I can: If something
bad happened, I didnt see it.
The End
US Airdate: January 11, 1998
writers: Jessica Scott and Mike Wollaeger director: Ralph
Hemecker
STARRING: David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder Gillian
Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully
Guest Cast:
CHAD LINDBERG as Bobby Rich BOB DAWSON as Phil Rich CYNDE
HARMON as Patti Rich GEORGE JOSEF as John Ramirez KATHARINE ISABELLE as Lisa Baiocchi
MYLES FERGUSON as Joey Agostino GARDINER MILLAR as Mr. Baiocchi SARAH-JANE REDMOND as
Karin Matthews KATE ROBBINS and Lisa's Aunt CHRISTIN ANTON as Teacher LAURIE MURDOCH as
Coroner