Season 9: Sunshine Days (9X18)

Written by: Vince Gilligan
Directed by: Vince Gilligan

In Van Nuys, California, young slackers Blake and Mike enjoy a beer together. Blake claims that a nearby house is the home used to shoot The Brady Bunch. Mike disagrees, and a few moments later both men sneak inside the house for a better look. Mike is stunned - the interior of the house is exactly like the home from the TV show. Suddenly, a football bounces down the staircase, reminding Blake of an episode in which the Marcia Brady broke her nose after a football hit her in the face. Freaked out, Mike runs off, and Blake walks up the staircase, where he comes face to face with two children who resemble Bobby and Cindy from the TV show. Moments later, Blake's body crashes down onto the roof of the car Mike is sitting in.

Doggett and Reyes investigate the strange death. The agents escort Mike to the front door of the house he claims is the Brady Bunch home, where they speak with the owner, Oliver Martin. Martin allows the agents to enter after Doggett threatens to get a search warrant. Inside, Mike is flabbergasted when the house looks nothing like the Brady's place.

Sensing something amiss, Doggett checks Martin's dustbin, which contains a pile of asphalt shingles. Doggett realizes that the roof of the home has been freshly patched... leading him to speculate that Blake somehow flew through the roof.

Later, Mike sneaks to the front of Martin's house and peers in. He sees three girls and three boys having dinner with their mother and father. Mike bursts through the front door... but the family has disappeared. Mike then advances on Oliver, only to find himself floating in the air. Suddenly, he rockets upward and crashes through the ceiling.

Scully arranges a meeting with Dr. John Rietz, a parapsychologist who documented the strange case of Anthony Fogelman, who later changed his name to Oliver Martin, in 1970. Fogelman, the "Mozart of psychokinesis", possessed otherworldly powers of moving objects with his mind. Described as "a lonely little boy", by Reitz, Fogelman's powers faded as he grew up.

The agents realize that "Oliver Martin" was the name of Carol Brady's nephew, in the Brady Bunch's last season. The character was something of a pest and jinx, and Scully wonders if that's how Fogelman views himself.

Doggett and Reitz make their way to Fogleman's house, but Fogelman levitates Doggett off the floor and crashes him through the ceiling. When Doggett regains consciousness, he's stuck upside down in the attic of the house. Rietz tries reasoning with Fogelman, urging him to relax, at which Doggett crashes back through the hallway ceiling.

Oliver says he simply thinks about things and places and they suddenly appear. He concentrates for a few seconds, and the Brady Bunch living room transforms into scenic grasslands. Amazed, Scully asks Oliver to come to Washington so scientists can learn more about him. The agents escort Oliver to the Bureau, where Oliver levitates Skinner.

Later, Oliver experiences a seizure and is rushed to a hospital, where it turns out that he's suffering from multiple organ failure. Doctors try everything in their power to save him, but nothing seems to work. When Doggett wonders why Fogelman chose The Brady Bunch, Reyes concludes that the Bradys are the family that everyone wishes they had. This causes Rietz to realizes that he represented a father figure to Fogelman, and he apologises to him for treating him like a lab rat. He also makes him promise to never again use his powers.

Notes:
The title is a reference to a song that the Brady children sang in an episode of The Brady Bunch when they formed a band, called "It's A Sunshine Day".

The house isn't really the house the Brady Bunch was filmed in. Agent Reyes made a big point of mentioning that. The real Brady Bunch house was on a Hollywood backlot. This house was a figment of the guy's imagination.

Quotes:
Doggett: I'm telling you. (Staring up at the sky)
Reyes: No. I don't see how.
Doggett: Well, how else do you explain it? A guy falls from a plane or, I don't know, maybe a helicopter, out the door and then... (He whistles) bam. As simple as that.
Reyes: And how, exactly, did he wind up in a helicopter? Supposedly he was busy breaking into someone's house at the time.
Doggett: Details. (He looks over at the roof of the vehicle and spots something small and black where the body was found)
Reyes: What you got?
Doggett: Maybe nothing. (A police car approaches and stops. Michael Daley, bandage on his forehead, emerges from the car)
Michael Daley: Are you the people from the FBI?
Reyes: Michael Daley?
Michael Daley: Is someone finally going to arrest that freak?
Doggett: How about you tell us what you witnessed and then we'll go from there.
Michael Daley: What I witnessed was freaksville, man. My friend was murdered. Who would have thought this could happen at the Brady Bunch house?
Reyes: That's not the Brady Bunch house.
Michael Daley: Yeah, it is. I mean, I know it doesn't look like it, but it is. That's where they shot the show.
Reyes: No, they shot the show on a sound stage in Hollywood. The house they used for the exteriors is a split-level in Studio City. I took a picture of it once.
Michael Daley: I'm telling you. It's like some kind of creepy Brady Bunch museum in there. I told the cops to search the place but they wouldn't listen to me. But whatever the hell happened to Blake, it happened right in there.

Doggett: Oliver Martin?

Reyes: Mr Martin, I'm Agent Reyes. This is Agent Doggett. We're with the FBI.
Oliver Martin: This is regarding the death that happened across the street?
Doggett: Yes, Sir. May we come in?
Oliver Martin: I already talked to the police about this.
Reyes: Yes, Sir. We know.
Oliver Martin: As I told them, I didn't see or hear anything. I wasn't home at the time.
Michael Daley: This guy's stonewalling. Kick the door in.
Doggett: (to Michael Daley) Shut up.
Oliver Martin: I'm... really kind of busy.
Reyes: Mr Martin just five minutes and we'll be out of your hair.
Doggett: Unless you want us to get a warrant and then... we could be here for hours. (Michael Daley bursts through the door)
Michael Daley: Right in here, see? What happened? This isn't what I saw. None of it. It's all different. Where'd it all go?
Oliver Martin: I'm not following.
Michael Daley: What happened to all the Brady Bunch stuff?
Reyes: Mr Daley was under the impression that your house was used for the filming of the Brady Bunch, the television show.
Oliver Martin: Well... it wasn't.

Scully: Case number 14-308. Blake McCormick, a well-nourished Caucasian male, 24 years old. I will begin with my external examination... and here is a likely place to start. (She prepares to remove the piece of roofing from the corpse's head when a rattling sound distracts her. She notices that a scalpel is clattering on the instrument tray, reaching out a finger to touch the instrument, she receives a slight electrical shock) Ah!

Doggett: Help me out here, Agent Scully. Monica thinks I'm losing my marbles. What can you tell us about what happened to this guy?

Scully: Well, for starters, Mr McCormick was dead before he landed on the car. His skull was pulverised from a previous impact and, judging by the roofing material that I found in the wound, I'd say that Agent Doggett's theory holds water.
Reyes: Well, like I asked Agent Doggett, how exactly can that be?
Scully: Electricity.
Doggett: How's that?
Scully: Or maybe electricity is only a by-product. I'm not really sure, but... look, I had an odd experience today and it made me think to try something unusual. I borrowed an EEG machine and I wired Mr McCormick to it. And for the last few hours he's been putting off a faint reading.
Reyes: Are you saying he's alive?
Scully: No, he's dead as a hammer. What I'm reading is some sort of residual electricity like a... like a battery that's draining off its charge. It's fascinating. I mean, I've never seen anything quite like it.
Reyes: But what does it mean?
Scully: Well, if Mulder were here, I'd imagine he'd talk about research linking electromagnetic fluctuations to levitation, poltergeist activity, ghost sightings...
Doggett: Ghosts and poltergeists? That's what Mulder would say?
Scully: At the end of the day I wouldn't have any theory that was any better and I don't now.

Dr Rietz: (on video) April 4th, 1970, 10:36am. Present for this test are John Rietz, speaking, and Anthony Fogelman, age eight. Hello, Anthony. Are you ready to begin? Good. Now, relax. Relax and focus. Almost immediately the EEG is registering an increase in fast beta wave activity on all leads. Theta activity is rising as well. Oh, my goodness! (A blue block moves slightly) Oh, my goodness! (The image fizzles with interference)

Dr Rietz: Well, there you have it. My right hand to god. All four blocks rose off of the table and spiralled halfway to the ceiling before they fell.
Reyes: Too bad that wasn't on film.
Dr Rietz: The understatement of a lifetime. Whatever phenomena caused this I also believe that it radiated an electromagnetic field strong enough to fog the image. Well, don't be polite. Call me crazy. Everybody does.
Doggett: I believe you. Did you recognise that kid? That was our suspect, Oliver Martin, right?
Scully: I went through Mulder's reference books. Van Nuys, California, 1970: One of the best documented cases of what was initially thought to be poltergeist activity. It focused on a young boy, Anthony Fogelman, who has since changed his name. And Dr Rietz was the parapsychologist who investigated it.
Dr Rietz: Objects flew around the house. Rooms would grow inexplicably cold. Strange voices would be heard. Anthony's mother was at the end of her rope. I spent six months with her and her son. Six astonishing months.
Reyes: What did you learn?
Dr Rietz: That Anthony was as bewildered as everyone else, but that he was responsible for all of it.
Scully: He was psychokinetic.
Dr Rietz: He was the Mozart of psychokinesis.
Reyes: Sir, in your line of work, why would you fall out of touch with the Mozart of psychokinesis?
Dr Rietz: Over time, Anthony's abilities faded. The last few months I was with him there were no manifestations of it whatsoever.
Scully: He lost his power.
Doggett: We're looking at this guy for two murders. What can you give us that we could actually take to a judge? Was he an angry kid? Was he violent?
Dr Rietz: I can't say what he grew up to be. I haven't spoken to him in 30 years, but the Anthony I knew was a lonely little boy.

Doggett: You're speaking Greek to me here. What's this case have to do with an old TV show?

Reyes: You remember what Michael Daley claimed he saw inside that house. He said it was the Brady Bunch house. He seemed certain of it. And now this name, Oliver Martin — just connecting A to B to C.
Doggett: Does this make any sense to you? When you knew Anthony, was he nutty for the Brady Bunch?
Dr Rietz: We'd watch it together.
Doggett: Okay, say he is. What's it mean?
Reyes: Well, why name himself after cousin Oliver? None of the other Bradys particularly liked Oliver. He was a self-described pest.
Scully: A jinx. Cousin Oliver, the jinx. Oh, so maybe I watched an episode or two. So what you're saying is that his choice speaks to Anthony Fogelman's character; how he views himself — unlucky, star-crossed, a danger.
Doggett: Okay, so be it. Just tell me how this helps me bust him and... I'm happy.
Scully: Well, I'm staring to hope that it doesn't come to that. Well, the power that this man seemingly possesses is extraordinary. It needs to be studied.
Dr Rietz: It could expand the scope of human knowledge. It could change everything.
Scully: It very well could. I mean, I've been working this unit for nine years now. I've investigated nearly 200 paranormal cases. We are due for some incontrovertible proof. I want vindication, for Mulder and for all of us.

Scully: Oliver... with your help, we could learn so much. I would love to take you back with us to Washington.

Dr Rietz: It would mean so much to me, Oliver... to show the whole world. (Oliver Martin nods) Wonderful. Let's go get you packed.
Doggett: We've got a tiger by the tail.
Reyes: Do you believe he intended to kill you?
Doggett: He wanted me out of his house, and away I went. It was involuntary, like a sneeze. What the hell difference does it make? It means he's not in control of this power of his.
Scully: I think that's where we can help him. I mean, he needs to learn how to control his powers. I mean, my god... there's no end to what he could accomplish.
Doggett: And there's no end to the harm he could cause if he goes off the deep end, which isn't too long a walk for this guy in case you haven't noticed. I mean, this whole Brady Bunch thing... I'm not so sure about this.
Reyes: Well, we can't keep him here. Two people are dead. Clearly, this isn't working.
Scully: And besides, I mean... as grand as this may sound... we owe it to the world.
Doggett: Maybe. Except that I can't shake this feeling that the other shoe's going to drop... that there's something Oliver's not telling us.

Dr Rietz: It was just all the excitement. A little bed rest will do him wonders. And we'll get things right back on schedule. (Scully enters the rooms and indicates that they should talk outside)

Reyes: What do his doctors say?
Scully: Oliver's electrolytes were severely imbalanced — that's what sent him into shock. They've stabilised his fluids...
Dr Rietz: When will they release him?
Scully: Well, there's other problems. His thyroid level is elevated. His glucose is low. CPK, liver enzymes and BUN... they're all elevated.
Doggett: Which, in a nutshell means...
Scully: It points to a multi-system organ failure. Gradually his body is consuming itself. It's been going on for months and... maybe even years.
Reyes: What's causing it?
Scully: His doctors have no idea but I think I'm starting to.
Doggett: This power of his — it's eating him alive.
Scully: And if so, it follows that the more he uses it, the more his health will decline. Until finally...
Reyes: What in the hell? (They look in Oliver Martin's room and see the entire Brady Bunch family standing around the bed)
Scully: Oh, my god. (They enter the room to find that the guests have vanished)
Dr Rietz: Oliver?
Reyes: Oliver, those people just now — was that...? Were they...?
Doggett: Why were they here?
Oliver Martin: To say goodbye.
Scully: Why goodbye, Oliver?
Oliver Martin: Because I'm dying.

Doggett: So close, Dana. I'm sorry you don't get your proof.

Scully: Me, too. Well, maybe I've had it these past nine years. If not proof of the paranormal, then... of more important things.
Doggett: Here's hoping the TV stays off and he learns how to love the real world.
Reyes: I think you are getting the hang of this job.

Episode Number: 200
Season Number: 9
First Aired: Sunday, May 12, 2002
Production Code: 9X18

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Season 9: Release (9X16)

Written by: David Amann
Directed by: Kim Manners

Inside an abandoned apartment building in a deserted part of town, Doggett sees a figure bolt out of one of the rooms into the night. Shortly thereafter, he hears a scratching sound and steps up to a wet plaster wall. He claws away at the plaster until ribbons of red blood begin streaming downward.

With help from morgue assistant Diener, Scully performs an autopsy on the body Doggett found behind the wet plaster. She reviews her findings with FBI cadets, one of whom, Rudolph Hayes, accurately guesses that the victim hooked up with the wrong man at a bar. Using Hayes' uncanny insights, Scully realizes that this murder is connected to another killing two weeks earlier. Doggett wonders why someone tipped him off about the murder to begin with, as it is clearly not an X-Files case.

Later, Doggett and Reyes approach Hayes, who tells them the killer they're looking for is a felon linked to organised crime, contradicting the agents' profile. Reyes and Doggett then visit a bar and talk to Nicholas Regali, a tough mobster who claims he's in town looking for work. Hayes' intuition about Regali proves correct.

Meanwhile, Hayes returns to his apartment, the walls of which are covered with crime scene photos of murder victims, including one of Doggett's son. Doggett is so impressed by Hayes' gift for solving crimes that he asks him to look into his son's murder. Hayes takes Doggett to his apartment and tells him that if he sits very quietly, the photographs tell him things. He also admits that he has been following the case of Doggett's son's death for a very long time, and shows Doggett a mug shot of Robert Harvey, a suspect in the murder. Hayes believes Harvey abducted Doggett's son... but that Regali killed him.

Doggett approaches Brad Follmer, who worked in the New York organized crime division, and asks him to look into any connection between Regali and Robert Harvey. Doggett convinces his ex-wife Barbara to come to an identity parade, but she does not recognize Regali.

Meanwhile, Scully finds similarities between the wounds inflicted on Doggett's son nine years earlier and those on the bodies of the two women recently murdered. Checking through files on Regali, Doggett finds it odd that he has served so little jail time since the late Eighties, despite his connection to illegal activities. He begins to suspect that someone in the FBI is on the take.

Later, Follmer informs Reyes and Doggett that Rudolph Hayes died in an automobile accident in 1978... and that Cadet Hayes' is really Stuart Mimms, a mental patient. Follmer also uncovers evidence that Mimms was living in New York City at the time Doggett's son was murdered. A SWAT team storms Mimm's apartment and takes him into custody. Mimms is placed in a police lineup...and Barbara identifies him.

At a secret meeting between Follmer and Regali, it becomes clear that Follmer took money from Regali to make an indictment go away. Mimms tells Scully that he was drawn to the Doggett case only after he noticed an article about the boy's murder in a newspaper. He claims he lied to the FBI to become a cadet so he could have access to the Bureau's inner workings and help solve the case. He tells Doggett that Regali murdered his son.

Approached by Doggett, Regali tells him a "hypothetical" story, in which a paedophile takes a young boy to a mobster's home. The mobster walks in on the paedophile, and the young boy sees the mobster's face. Fearing the boy might associate him with the crime, the mobster has him killed. Regali then rises and walks towards the exit.

Filled with rage, Doggett unsnaps his holster. A gunshot rings out, but it's from Follmer's gun, and kills Regali. The mystery of their son's death now solved, Doggett and his wife make their way to a beach and scatter their son's ashes into the water.

Notes:
This episode marks the final appearance of Cary Elwes as A.D. Brad Follmer. Presumably, after he killed Regali at the climax, the video tape depicting his accepting a bribe landed at the Washington Post, resulting in Follmer's dismissal from the FBI, and possibly even being sent to prison on charges of taking bribes and murder. Still, it showed that Follmer wasn't a complete creep, as previous episodes led several viewers to think.

The actor who portrays Cadet Hayes (Jared Poe) was actually a writing intern on the show.

The woman playing Agent Doggett's wife in this episode (as well as in ''John Doe'') is Robert Patrick's real life wife, Barbara Patrick.

Quotes:
Scully: Jane Doe. Found last night entombed in a tenement wall by an agent who was following an anonymous tip. Time of death, approximately 2100 hours, from three stab wounds to the abdomen. Dirt and clay were found under the nails of her right hand.
First Cadet: What are those lacerations on her arms and feet?
Scully: Predation — from rats. The agent was led to her body by the sound of their feeding. Anyone?
First Cadet: She was killed some place else. She clawed at the dirt before succumbing to her injuries.
Scully: That's possible. Now what else would help us ID this victim — find the killer?
Cadet Hayes: It's obvious, isn't it?
Scully: What is?
Cadet Hayes: The chipped nail polish. The drugstore hair rinse. This is a single woman, unemployed. That's why no one's IDed her. You found blood alcohol?
Scully: Point zero four.
Cadet Hayes: She hooked up with the wrong man in a bar. He killed her. This man has killed before.
Scully: And you know that because...?
Cadet Hayes: That bruise beneath her ribs? It's from the hilt of a knife. The killer intended a single blow... the blade thrusting upward at a 45° angle into the heart, causing death instantly. But she struggled, so he missed. Then he got mad. Like I said... obvious.

Doggett: Cadet Hayes? Rudolph Hayes? I'm Agent Doggett. This is Agent Reyes. (Cadet Hayes smells the arm) Is that part of the training here, Cadet — smelling body parts?

Cadet Hayes: This man's flesh smells of creosote... but his skin is soft. Untanned. He worked indoors. A hardware store, probably. The tear marks at his elbow go from left to right. He was broadsided in a car accident. His hands gripped the wheel so hard... his thumb bone snapped on impact.
Doggett: You determined all that, just by looking at that arm?
Cadet Hayes: I see things.
Reyes: We came to thank you. Because of your analysis, we were able to work up a profile, to catch the man who murdered those women.
Cadet Hayes: What's the profile?
Doggett: White male, 25 to 35, ex-military. Employed near the bars where he met... why are you shaking your head?
Cadet Hayes: The profile's wrong. Your killer is in his 40s. A felon recently arrived from out of state. His parole officer thinks he's looking for a job. He already has one — working for organized crime. He's killed many people. He's going to keep on killing. (He walks away)
Reyes: Kind of annoying, isn't he?

Doggett: How long you been standing there?

Cadet Hayes: Not long.
Doggett: I'm glad you dropped by. Wanted to tell you we hit pay dirt with your profile. No arrests yet, but we're building our case.
Cadet Hayes: There's something else.
Doggett: There's another case I'd like you to take a look at. Seven-year-old boy... rides his bike around the block. His mom's on the porch, counting his laps. He waves to her every time he goes by, and after six laps, he doesn't come back around. She goes looking for him. She finds this bike lying on the sidewalk. There's... no witnesses no ransom demands, no clue as to who took him or why. The cops search door-to-door, block-to-block for two days. Nothing. No news at all. And after three days, they find him in a field. It's all in here. Particulars... about my son. I've been over this, I don't know how many times, but after nine years, there's not a lot to go on. You were such a big help yesterday. If there's anything you see here...
Cadet Hayes: Agent Doggett, that case I helped you with yesterday? That is your son's.

Doggett: Assistant Director? Can I have a minute?

Assistant Director Follmer: It's not a good time. I'm off to a meeting with the Director.
Doggett: This can't wait.
Assistant Director Follmer: And the Director can? Okay, you've got one minute.
Doggett: When you were in New York, you worked the organised crime task force, right?
Assistant Director Follmer: Mm-hmm.
Doggett: Did you ever hear of a guy named Nicholas Regali?
Assistant Director Follmer: Yeah, he was a... collector, a low-level thug. Why are you asking, Agent Doggett?
Doggett: When the New York office was investigating my son's death, his name never came up.
Assistant Director Follmer: Well, why would it? You have reason to believe he was involved?
Doggett: I've got no evidence, but somebody's telling me he's mixed-up with the suspect in my son's kidnapping, this Bob Harvey.
Assistant Director Follmer: Well, I never heard that. And I'm sure I'd remember. You want me to ask around and pull some files? I'll see what I can find.
Doggett: I'd appreciate it.

Barbara Doggett: Agent Scully? I'm Barbara. John's ex-wife.

Scully: Hi. I'm Dana. Nice to meet you.
Barbara Doggett: He said you'd be coming by.
Scully: You weren't able to make an identification?
Barbara Doggett: I didn't expect to. You know he doesn't think clearly about this. He can't.
Scully: He blames himself.
Barbara Doggett: He thinks he failed Luke. In his mind, he can never do enough, never suffer enough, for what happened. I think if you can help him find the man who did this, maybe... he could move on. He and Monica could really have something together. He just won't let her in. They're letting him go?
Doggett: For now.
Barbara Doggett: I'll be at my mom's 'til tomorrow. (She leaves)
Doggett: Tell me you got something.
Scully: As you asked, I compared the wounds inflicted on your son, with the wounds on these two women.
Doggett: And?
Scully: There are similarities between the trajectory of the wounds and the force with which they were delivered.
Doggett: Meaning Regali's the guy.
Scully: Meaning that it was a brilliant forensic deduction on Cadet Hayes's part. But that's all it is. The killer used different weapons, he demonstrated no consistent MO and no clear victimology.
Reyes: None of it will hold up in court.
Doggett: Well, something out there will.

Nicholas Regali: Nice car. I remember when they had you banging around in a ten-year-old Impala. Now look at you. Mr Assistant Director.

Assistant Director Follmer: You got lucky. He has another suspect.
Nicholas Regali: You came down here to tell me that?
Assistant Director Follmer: There's something I need to know. Were you in any way involved in the death of John Doggett's son?
Nicholas Regali: Since when do you ask me questions?
Assistant Director Follmer: Were you involved!
Nicholas Regali: Course not. What kind of guy do you think I am?
Assistant Director Follmer: That's it, I'm done, Regali.
Nicholas Regali: Done?
Assistant Director Follmer: With you, with this, with this whole thing.
Nicholas Regali: And if I say no, what are you going to do? You know, if I'm you, right now I'm thinking 'I could pop this guy right here and who's going to know it's not self defence'. Well, let me remind you, anything happens to me a videotape lands at the Washington Post showing a young Brad Follmer taking cash from yours truly to make an indictment go away. You're done when I say you're done.

Scully: It's all in there. How you defrauded the FBI with a false identity in order to gain admittance to the Academy. We know who you really are. We know about your history with schizophrenia. We know that you orchestrated this entire thing in order to get close to Agent Doggett.

Cadet Hayes: I've been recognised, by Agent Doggett's ex-wife, who failed to identify Nicholas Regali in that same room yesterday.
Scully: Because Nicholas Regali did not kill Agent Doggett's son. You did.
Cadet Hayes: That's one explanation.
Doggett: It's the explanation.
Cadet Hayes: No.
Doggett: Then what is? WHAT IS?
Cadet Hayes: I told you before, Agent Doggett. I studied the photos of your son's death. They called to me. I don't know why, but it was a message, and I listened.
Scully: And then you killed Agent Doggett's son.
Cadet Hayes: I studied his case obsessively. I'm a schizophrenic. That's what schizophrenics do. Obsess. I watched Agent Doggett. I watched his ex-wife, too. She can't tell you how she recognises me, just that she does.
Doggett: You're a liar. You lied to the FBI. You're lying now.
Cadet Hayes: Would you have listened to me otherwise? A mental patient with insight into your son's death? I wanted to get close to you, Agent Doggett. To help you.
Doggett: You gave me that tip. To find the woman's body in the wall.
Cadet Hayes: Regali associated with the man who abducted your son. I called you so that you could catch him. I've received another message. I'd like to go back home now, to the institution.

Nicholas Regali: Well, well. It's the FBI agent.

Doggett: I'm not here as an FBI agent. I'm here as a father.
Nicholas Regali: Whoa. What could that mean?
Doggett: I want to know what happened to my son.
Nicholas Regali: I don't know who killed your son. But I like you, FBI. I really do. I'll tell you how it could have happened, hypothetically. Say there was this guy — a businessman. And say this businessman, in the course of doing business, has to associate with any number of thugs, sickos, perverts. Like Bob Harvey, for example. Say this Bob Harvey likes little boys. Yeah. Disgusting. Say one day, Bob Harvey sees a little boy riding a bike, and he can't stand it. He grabs the boy. So Harvey takes the boy back to his place only he doesn't tell the businessman what he's doing. So the businessman walks in on him. You see what I'm saying, FBI? The boy sees the businessman's face. The businessman who never did nothing to this little boy. That's a problem. Well... every problem has got a solution, right? (He walks out of the bar. Doggett follows him, but has only just stood up when a shot is heard outside. Nicholas Regali is dead, shot through the eye)
Woman: Oh my god! He shot him! He just took out his gun and shot him!

Episode Number: 199
Season Number: 9
First Aired: Sunday, May 5, 2002
Production Code: 9X16

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Season 9: William (9X17)

Written by: Chris Carter
Directed by: David Duchovny

At a remote farm house, a husband and wife eager to adopt meet with two social workers. The social workers introduce the couple to their new son: Baby William. Outside Scully's apartment, a figure with rasping breath watches from afar as Scully carries William into the apartment building.

Later, at the Bureau, Agent Doggett enters the darkened X-Files office, encountering The Breather. Doggett grabs his gun and orders the mysterious man to put his hands up. The Breather complies - and for the first time we get a look at his disfigured face. Scully is called to the office, where Doggett briefs her on the case. The Breather claims his name is Daniel Miller, and that he gained access to the building by using an access card Mulder gave to him. He also says he's searching for answers about his disfigurement, which he blames on the government's secret research.

It becomes apparent that The Breather is intimately familiar with Mulder's life. He tells Scully that his scars are the result of being injected with an unknown substance. Meanwhile, Doggett has been unable to verify the man's identity and begins to suspect that he may in fact be Mulder. Scully refuses to believe this, and tells The Breather that the FBI knows his name isn't Daniel Miller. He confirms this is true - but refuses to divulge his real name. Scully runs a DNA test.

Later, The Breather claims his scars are the result of the government's failed attempt to turn him into an alien. He then tells the agents the files he was looking for were not in the X-Files office, and Scully admits that she removed them. Mulder knew this, casting doubt on Doggett's theory.

Scully, Reyes and The Breather make their way to Scully's apartment, where Scully lets him hold her baby. Doggett shows up with results from the DNA test proving that The Breather is Mulder, but Scully refuses to believe. The Breather sneaks into William's room and injects him with an unknown liquid. Later, Scully discovers a little blood on William's sheets and rushes him to a hospital, but doctors cannot find anything out of the ordinary.

Scully confronts The Breather, who reveals that he is Mulder's half-brother, Jeffrey Spender. He then explains that he injected William with a metallic liquid that turned off his alien qualities. As William is the one thing the aliens need, Spender achieved revenge against his father by transforming the child into a normal human being. He warns that as long as the aliens know where William lives, he will never be safe.

The scene returns to that of the opening. The husband hangs a hand-carved mobile over the baby's crib. After he leaves the room, William reaches up... but the mobile does not spin on its own.

Notes:
Although David Duchovny is uncredited in this episode, he is seen for a split second, by Scully when she is examining the disfigured man, soon to be named Jeffery Spender (Mulder's half-brother), when she looks in his eyes.

Subtle hint that the Cigarette Smoking Man is still alive? Spender claims that he is seeking revenge on his father by depriving "them" of super-William: not something you typically do if the target of your revenge is...well, dead.

Near the beginning, as Scully is in her car with William, she is singing "Joy to the World" to William, the same song she sang to Mulder while they were stuck in the forest in the Season 5 episode, ''Detour''.

Quotes:
Doggett: You won't talk to me. You going to talk to her, Mr Miller?
Jeffrey Spender: If she'll help me and protect me.
Doggett: You better hope she's feeling more charitable than I am, partner. (Scully enters the room) Agent Scully. He's under arrest for assaulting a federal officer. I've explained to him the penalties, but he still refuses a lawyer.
Scully: How did he get in the building?
Doggett: We found a card key on him. Says it was given to him by Fox Mulder.
Scully: His name is Miller?
Doggett: Daniel Miller of Fredericksburg. He gave us an address, but we're still working on the confirmation.
Scully: What are you doing here?
Jeffrey Spender: I came here to find answers.
Scully: Answers to what?
Jeffrey Spender: To this. What they did to me.
Scully: From your scarring, it appears that you've been burned. Are you claiming that someone burned you and that there is evidence here to incriminate them?
Jeffrey Spender: According to Fox Mulder, the men who did this are part of a government conspiracy.
Scully: Go on.
Jeffrey Spender: You know who these men are.
Scully: Did Mulder tell you that, too? When?
Jeffrey Spender: If I were to tell you that, you might use the information to find him. Mulder doesn't want to be found.
Doggett: When I searched him I found those X-Files stuffed inside his clothes. (Scully pulls out a photo) You know who that is?
Scully: It's his sister.
Doggett: Whose?
Jeffrey Spender: Mulder's. She was abducted from her home when she was a little girl — part of this same government conspiracy.
Scully: You seem to know a lot, Mr Miller. It gives an impression either that you are telling the truth or you just want us to believe that you are.
Jeffrey Spender: If I thought you'd believe me, I wouldn't have snuck in here.
Scully: Agent Doggett. Would you please arrange the transfer of this man to Quantico? I'd like to personally examine his injuries.

Scully: You came here looking for something. What is it that you hope to find?

Jeffrey Spender: I didn't find it.
Reyes: You stole several files pertaining to the 1973 abduction of Mulder's sister. But yet you say there's danger to your life right now.
Jeffrey Spender: The conspiracy to keep the truth about aliens from the American public all but destroyed a few years ago, has given rise to a new conspiracy in the government now, by men who are alien themselves.
Scully: And what does this have to do with you?
Jeffrey Spender: What you can see they did to me, was a failed attempt to turn me into one of these alien men. I was a guinea pig — a test subject. And now I want to expose their evil plans.
Reyes: What plans are those?
Jeffrey Spender: To do this to you... to everyone. Mulder said there were files here — cases like mine. He gave me names and case numbers, but I don't see them. They're not here. Someone's already removed them.
Scully: Yes.
Reyes: Who?

Doggett: Assistant Director. You said you've spoken to the lab.

Skinner: I got some advance info on the exam that Scully performed on the man.
Doggett: What?
Skinner: The blood type matches Mulder's, but there are aspects of the physiology that aren't a match.
Doggett: Such as?
Skinner: Well, the body mass, of course. He's shorter and weighs considerably less than Mulder did.
Doggett: You haven't seen this guy — what they've done to him. They way he's twisted, he's like an old man. He could be a hundred years old.
Skinner: Yeah, I'm just relaying the facts. And the fact is, he's not a hundred years old, is he? Not the way he attacked you. Well, whoever he is, he wants something.
Doggett: He says he wants revenge, against the people that burned him. And Mulder directed him to the place where he could find the files and the people who did it.
Skinner: That doesn't make any sense. Mulder knows those files inside out. Why would he direct him? Why not just tell him? (answering phone) Skinner. Yeah. You're sure about that? All right. (He hangs up)
Doggett: What?
Skinner: That was the lab. They were able to rush the PCR test and they came up with a definitive DNA result.

Scully: It's all been a good act.

Jeffrey Spender: I don't know what you mean.
Scully: I think you do. You knew those files were here. You just pretended not to, so that I'd bring you here to see William.
Jeffrey Spender: No.
Scully: I want the truth from you.
Jeffrey Spender: What truth?
Scully: The truth that you won't speak.
Jeffrey Spender: I want the same truth you do.
Scully: Don't do this to me. Not you.
Jeffrey Spender: I didn't come here to upset you. I didn't plan on being caught. I know you must have a hard life living alone raising a son not knowing whether you'll see Mulder again.
Scully: How do you know my life?
Jeffrey Spender: I know what Mulder knows. I know they used you to create the child. I know they continue to use you to take care of it and raise it.
Scully: What are you saying?
Jeffrey Spender: You know what I'm saying. Your son — your child is part alien.
Scully: Just tell me who you are. Come on, just say your name. Say it! Just say it!
Reyes: Agent Scully...
Scully: (to Reyes) Could you please leave? And close the door?
Reyes: (to Jeffrey Spender) Can you step out, please?
Scully: This was a private conversation.
Reyes: I understand. I'm sorry. (Jeffrey Spender leaves)
Scully: Do you know who that man is?
Reyes: Yes, I do.
Doggett: Agent Scully...
Scully: What is this? What?
Doggett: We got DNA results. A positive ID.
Scully: It's not him. He wouldn't say these things.
Doggett: The DNA's a match to Fox Mulder's.
Scully: It's not him.

Reyes: Here she comes.

Scully: How is he? Is he all right?
Dr Edwards: He's good. He's doing fine.
Scully: Oh, god.
Reyes: Can she see him?
Dr Edwards: We have him in step down right now as a precaution, but I think he'll be going home in no time.
Scully: What did you find?
Dr Edwards: Nothing.
Reyes: How could you find nothing? There would have to be something.
Dr Edwards: There's some slight bruising on the head where something clearly broke the skin, but... he's fine.
Reyes: What about a tox screen?
Dr Edwards: There's an elevated amount of iron in his blood, but other than that, your son is completely normal.
Reyes: That doesn't make sense.
Scully: No... I think it does. It makes perfect sense now.

Jeffrey Spender: You're wrong about that. When I look in the mirror I see something much different than the world sees. He could destroy my face and my dignity when he shot me in that office... but he couldn't destroy the one thing I love most — my hatred of him.

Scully: Your cigarette-smoking, son of a bitch of a father.
Jeffrey Spender: And Mulder's.
Scully: You counted on the DNA... that we'd buy it without question and not look any further. DNA's what Mulder shared with Jeffrey Spender.
Jeffrey Spender: Ah. Half brothers raised apart — that's about all that Mulder and I ever shared.
Scully: You haven't seen Mulder, have you? You haven't even talked to him. So, getting caught at the FBI... winning our trust was all towards one thing. It was only to get to William.
Jeffrey Spender: Sitting here, you'd wish me dead. Shortly, I'll do you the favour.
Scully: I had this checked. It's an unknown metal, that you injected into my son.
Jeffrey Spender: It's a form of magnetite. A gift.
Scully: 'A gift'?
Jeffrey Spender: Having failed as a conspirator to control alien colonisation, my father wanted nothing more than to see the world fail, too.
Scully: So what, you've prevented it now? You've... prevented alien colonisation by injecting this metal into my son?
Jeffrey Spender: Your son is the one thing the aliens need. I took revenge on my father by taking William away from them.
Scully: So, he's all right now? I mean, just like that? (Jeffrey Spender nods) So it's over. They'll let him be.
Jeffrey Spender: It'll never be over. They'll always know what he was. They'll never accept what he is.
Scully: Well, I can protect him.
Jeffrey Spender: And if you can't? Look at me... what they did. Is this what you want for your son?

Episode Number: 198
Season Number: 9
First Aired: Sunday, April 28, 2002
Production Code: 9X17

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