Season 6: Three of a Kind (6X19)

Written by: Vince Gilligan and John Shiban

Directed by: Bryan Spicer

The Lone Gunman travel to Las Vegas where Def-Con '99, a convention of black ops technology is being held. Unable to gain access to the convention itself, Byers takes part in a private poker game posing as a defence contractor, but he is tricked by another player using fake jargon and kicked out of the game. On his way back to the hotel room Byers thinks he catches sight of Suzanne Modeski who the Lone Gunman first met at a convention in Baltimore back in 1989 and whom Byers has secretly longed to meet again.

Scully make the journey to Las Vegas following a phone call from Mulder telling her that the Lone Gunman have found something, only the phone call was from the Lone Gunman using a computer to fake Mulder's voice. Byers sees Suzanne in a hotel room kissing the man from the poker game.

The Lone Gunman hack in to the hotel computer and discover he is Grant Ellis, an employee of the Advanced Weapons Research Centre, the same place that Suzanne worked 10 years before. The Lone Gunman begin surveillance of Suzanne's room, but discover that she is already under surveillance. Byers confronts Suzanne and accuses her of being brainwashed into working for the government once more.

Suzanne denies this and later explains that Grant Ellis is helping her to expose a government program at the convention, a program using a drug she developed called 'AE', which affects the victims higher brain function, making them more open to suggestion.

Notes:
David Duchovny does not appear in this episode, although his voice is heard.

Signy Coleman, playing Suzanne Modeski, returns to ''The X-Files'' in this episode. She was last seen in the season 5 episode "Unusual Suspects".

Michael McKean, who played Morris Fletcher in the season 6 2-parter ''Dreamland/Dreamland II'', makes a brief return appearance when Scully is at the hotel bar.

Def-Con is an actual convention that has been held in Las Vegas. In reality it is a gathering of computer hackers, not of defense contractors.

Quotes:
Byers: My name is John Fitzgerald Byers. I was named after our 35th president, and I keep having this beautiful dream. In my dream, the events of November 22nd, 1963, never happened. In it, my namesake was never assassinated. Other things are different, too, in my dream. My country is hopeful and innocent; young again. Young in spirit. My fellow citizens trust their elect officials, never once having been betrayed by them. My government is truly 'of the people, by the people, for the people'. All my hopes for my country, for myself... all are fulfilled. I have everything a person could want; home and family... and love. Everything that counts for anything in life... I have it. But the dream ends the same way every time. I lose it all.

Scully: Yeah, Scully.

Mulder: Hey, Scully, it's me.
Scully: Mulder, what time is it?
Mulder: 2:34 am. Listen, Scully, I need you on the next flight to Las Vegas.
Scully: Las Vegas? Why?
Mulder: It's the Lone Gunmen. They're onto something big.
Scully: What, exactly?
Mulder: It's really important. Trust me. (Byers is synthesising Mulder's voice via a computer)
Scully: Yeah, I trust you, Mulder, it's the Three Stooges I'm not so sure about.
Mulder: Look, I can't talk over an unsecured line. Please just get here. It's an emergency.
Scully: Okay. Okay, okay, okay.
(Scully hangs up)
Langly: What if she calls him back?
Byers: I trapped her cell number. If she calls him, it rings here.
Frohike: She's going to kick our ass. What do you need Scully for, anyway?
Byers: We're up against agents of the government. We need our own government agent.
Langly: And that would be Mulder. Why do you want just Scully?
Frohike: She's going to kick our ass.
Byers: Mulder's too high profile. He's virtually a household name to the black ops who kidnapped Susanne in Baltimore.
Langly: Byers, I've hacked into the hotel computers, Susanne Modeski's not registered here. Are you sure you saw her; are you absolutely, positively sure?
Byers: It was her. She's here. I've got to find her!
Frohike: You've go to find some ice, you need a drink.

Byers: Agent Scully.

Scully: Where's Agent Mulder, I've been trying to call him.
Langly: He's, uh, I think that his, phone's messed up.
Byers: He may be hard to reach for the next few hours, he suggested we work with you, bring you up to speed.
Scully: By all means, bring me up to speed.

Byers: Susanne, do you remember me?
Susanne Modeski: John, what are you doing here?
Byers: I'm here to save you.
Susanne Modeski: From what?
Byers: I don't think... you are yourself. I think that, uh, you've been mistreated... and confused, and, and, I'm afraid that your, your beliefs, your opinions, are no longer your own.
Susanne Modeski: As in I've been brainwashed? I don't know what to tell you. I haven't been.
Byers: Your life may be in danger, Susanne. A friend of mine has just been killed. Murdered.
Susanne Modeski: What?
Byers: And that man that you're with...
Susanne Modeski: My fianc�? I'm sorry John, I think you better go.
Byers: No, wait. Wait. Ten years ago, I saw you thrown into a car. Kidnapped right in front of me. Did that not happen? Did I just dream all of that?
Susanne Modeski: It happened. But things got better.

Morris Fletcher: Cigarette?
(Scully leans in and seductively removes a cigarette from the pack with her mouth)

Frohike: You don't smoke.
Scully: But who's got a match?
(A dozen lighters appear in front of her)
Scully: Well... I just can't decide who lights my fire.
Frohike: That's it. Alright, you dandies, back off. This is Special Agent Dana Scully of the FBI. If you so much as touch her, you may be committing a federal offence.
Morris Fletcher: We could have been stardust.
Scully: Maybe next time.
(She gives Morris Fletcher one good slap on the arse before Frohike finally pulls her away)
Morris Fletcher: Ooh.

Frohike: (to Scully) Good work, party girl.

Highlights from ''Three of a Kind''


Episode Number: 137
Season Number: 6
First Aired: Sunday, May 2, 1999
Production Code: 6X19

Season 5: Unusual Suspects (5X01)

Writer: Vince Gilligan
Director: Kim Manners

In a flash back to 1989, Agent Mulder is found acting paranoid in a blood spattered warehouse in Baltimore by Detective John Munch along with Langly, Frohike and Byers (the future members of the Lone Gunman). In an attempt to explain Byers recants the events that led up to them being found in the warehouse. He met a woman called Holly at a computer convention who claimed that her daughter had been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, she then gave him an Internet address to locate her daughter.

Byers hacked in to a government computer but the relevant file was encrypted, however Frohike on the next booth agreed to help decrypt the file. Holly then identified Mulder as her ex-boyfriend so Byers and Frohike approached Mulder only to discover he was an FBI agent. With the help of Langly who was also exhibiting at the convention, they hacked in to the FBI computer for information on Mulder, but instead discovered that Holly's real name is Suzanne Modeski and that she was wanted for bombing an FBI lab.

Suzanne admitted her story was fabricated, in fact she was trying to prevent the government from testing paranoia-inducing gas, that she helped develop, on an unsuspecting public. Mulder while attempting to arrest Suzanne Modeski had a shoot out with some government officials, which left him in a psychotic state caused by exposure to the paranoia-inducing gas and allowed Suzanne to escaped. Detective Munch is skeptical until Mulder verifies the story is true.

Notes:
Due to the fact that David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson would still be tied up in California shooting ''The X-Files'' movie at the end of August 1997, the producers decided to create an episode that was centered around The Lone Gunmen. This way, 1013 could complete the network episode order and have their leading stars freed up and complete principal shooting on "Fight the Future". The scenes with David Duchovny were shot several weeks after shooting of this episode wrapped up.

The script of this episode never called for Mulder to wear a wedding ring. This was David Duchovny's idea who thought it would be cool to toy with the notion that Mulder could in the past have been married.

Gillian Anderson does not appear in this episode.

This episode featured the appearance of ''Baltimore homicide'' detective John Munch played by actor Richard Belzer, who also played the same character as a recurring character on the shows ''Homicide'' and ''Law and Order: Special Victims Unit'', and as a guest star on the shows: ''Law and Order'', ''Law and Order: Trial by Jury'', and ''The Beat''. Richard Belzer also set a TV record by becoming the first person to play the same character on three different prime time series during the same week. Detective John Munch appeared on the ''Law & Order/Homicide'' crossover "Baby It's You" on November 12 and November 14 and then this epiosde on the 16th.

Quotes:
Detective Munch: Here's a tip: aluminium foil makes a lovely hat and blocks out the government's mind control rays. Keep you guys out of trouble.

Suzanne Modeski: No matter how paranoid you are, you aren't paranoid enough.

Frohike: You look like a gentleman who'll appreciate 33 channels of crystal clear television.
Mulder: No thanks, handsome.
Frohike: Ah, a man of distinction!

Episode Number: 100
Season Number: 5
First Aired: Sunday, November 16, 1997
Production Code: 5X01