Season 6: Agua Mala (6X14)

Written by: David Amann
Directed by: Rob Bowman

Arthur Dales, father of the X-Files, lures Mulder and Scully to Florida's Gulf Coast in the middle of a hurricane with tales of a sea monster on the loose. Scully is not so easily convinced and after checking out a house where the monster supposedly killed a family, she begs Mulder to take the last flight out before the hurricane descends full-force. But the hurricane strikes, closing the airport and all roads out of town.

Forced to take shelter in a nearby apartment building, they find a sheriff's deputy who has been attacked by what Scully terms a water-borne parasite. Mulder, surmising that whatever attacked the deputy might be in the plumbing, decides to check out the rest of the building for inhabitants. He finds a looter, a couple - Walter and his very pregnant girlfriend, Angela, and a militant neighbor, George Vincent.

Huddled in a darkened apartment together, the motley crew watch as the deputy hovers nears death. They pack him in ice in the tub, hoping to abate his rising temperature. But when the group's not looking, the looter steals the deputy's ring and inadvertently knocks a box of Epsom salts into the bath water. Minutes later, pregnant Angela uses the bathroom, only to emerge screaming that she had seen the creature with giant arms like an octopus. When Mulder enters the bathroom, he finds the deputy's body gone, melted into water in the tub. Mulder theorizes that the monster doesn't live in water, but that it is water, taking shape only when it attacks.

To avoid any further attacks, Mulder decides it's time to move everyone to another building. He goes out to the carport only to find the looter has taken the deputy's prowler and escaped, leaving the group stranded. On his way back into the apartment, he is attacked by a coiled tentacle that extends from the ceiling and wraps its arm around Mulder's neck.

Managing to free himself from the monster, Mulder tries to get back into the apartment, but Vincent has locked him out. As he struggles for his life in the hallway, Angela goes into labor and Scully must help deliver the baby. As the new bundle arrives, Scully deduces that fresh water kills the organism and has Walter shoot the sprinkler heads. Simultaneously, Mulder has the same realization when he sees a cat sitting out in the rain rather than finding shelter in the apartment building. The storm passes and Mulder and Scully wrap up their visit with Dales, who takes great delight in ribbing Mulder that Scully saved his life.

Notes:
"Agua Mala" is Spanish for bad water.

In early drafts of the script the monster wasn't a sea monster but one that was loose in an abandoned cave with a gold mine inside it.

The episode takes place in Florida. The Shipley boy is wearing a Miami Dolphins number 13 Dan Marino jersey, but with the name SHIPLEY on the back.

Quotes:
Mulder: Excuse me, sir. Is everything okay in your apartment?
Looter: Uh.. yeah, yeah. It's all good.
Mulder: You need some help.... with your television? Mr. Suarez, do you know this man?
Suarez: Uh, no. He's not with you?
(Mulder glares at Looter)
Looter: I'll put it back.
Mulder: Yeah, everything in your pockets too.

Scully: (On phone) Hello?

Mulder: The good thing about zero visibility, Scully? Can't get any worse.
Scully: (On phone) Is this the Collier County Sheriff? Yes. No, hi. We're driving on, uh...
Mulder: Nance Road... N-A-N-C-E Road.
Scully: (On phone) Nance Road. No, it isn't very smart, is it? Not... Yes, that would be much appreciated. (To Mulder) He's going to guide us to the nearest emergency shelter.
Mulder: Not a moment too soon.
Scully: (On phone) Hello? Hello? (Hangs up phone) No service.
Mulder: You know, Scully, some day we're going to look back on this and we're going to laugh. And we'll just think of it as, uh... you know man pitted against the forces of nature. Think of it as a test of our mettle.
Scully: I don't need my mettle tested. (Something hits the roof of the car) What was that?
Mulder: I think that was a tree branch. Debris is starting to fly.
Scully: Mulder, we have to pull over. We have to wait out this storm somewhere away from the trees.
Mulder: We're not going to dodge any trees in a parked car. At least if we're driving, we're a moving target.
Scully: We don't know where we are and we don't know where we're going.
Mulder: There's somebody I think who's about to give us directions. Who says there's never a cop when you need one? (Deputy Greer's patrol car is on side of road)
Scully: Mulder, isn't that...
Mulder: Forrest Gump.

Deputy: (Puts hands up as Mulder swipes away his gun) Oh no, you're going to kill me.
Mulder: No, I'm not - but I'd like to.

Episode Number: 130
Season Number: 6
First Aired: Sunday, February 21, 1999
Production Code: 6X14