3.14 Grotesque
US Airdate: February 2, 1996
writer: Howard Gordon
director: Kim Manners
STARRING:
David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully
Guest Cast:
Agent Sheherlis ...... Susan Bain
Young Agent ...... Kasper Michaels
John Mostow ...... Levani Outchaneichvili
Agent Bill Patterson ...... Kurtwood Smith
Agent Greg Nemhauser ...... Greg Thirloway
Peter ...... Zoran Vukelic
MULDER'S FORMER MENTOR IN THE BUREAU ENLISTS HIS AND SCULLY'S AID IN A SERIAL MURDER CASE, WHOSE BIZARRE MUTILATION MURDERS CONTINUE EVEN AFTER THE KILLER IS CAUGHT.
Assistant Director Walter Skinner assigns Mulder and Scully to a serial killer case, where Mulder finds his old mentor in charge. Special Agent Bill Patterson of the Behavioral Sciences unit has already caught the killer, but when another murder following the same pattern occurs, he needs the "cracked genius" of Fox Mulder to solve the case. Was confessed murderer John Mostow working with an accomplice, who now continues the killing spree? Or was the murder committed by a copycat? Patterson and Scully hope to resolve the question either way, but Mulder believes in a third possibility: demonic possession.
Notes
The title refers to another, older name for gargoyles.
Agent Nemhauser shares his name with Post Production Supervisor Lori Jo Nemhauser.
Quotes
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Nemhauser: "He bit me! The sonuvabitch bit me like a dog!"
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Mulder: "...failed to mention on his INS application that he spent the better part of his 20's in an insane asylum."
Scully: "He was arrested last week for the serial murders of at least seven men."
Mulder: "You thought all they produced were great hockey players."
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Scully: (taken aback) "The level of violence and overkill here would suggest the work of a very angry individual."
Mulder: "Or individuals. (to Scully's look) If you count the spirit Mastau says possessed him during the murders."
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Mastau: "Leave me alone."
Scully: "You have a nice soft bunk, sir. Why aren't you using it?"
Mulder: " �Cause he's been working. Haven't you, John?"
(we see a gargoyle drawn on the wall)
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Patterson: "So what is it Mulder? Little green men? Evil spirits? Hounds of Hell?"
Mulder: "Scully, this is Bill Patterson. He runs the investigative support unit out of Quantico."
Scully: "Yes, I know. Behavioral Science, you wrote the book. It's an honor, sir."
Patterson: "Is that what you think? (upon Scully's questioning look) That the suspect is possessed by some dark spirit?"
Scully: (smiling) "No, not at all, sir."
Patterson: (eyeing Mulder) "Strange company you keep, then."
Mulder: (laughing to himself) "That's what always amazed me about you, Bill. How you never fit your own profile. No one would ever guess how really mean-spirited you are." (walks away)
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Mulder: "Patterson never liked me."
Scully: "I thought you were considered the fair-haired boy when you joined the bureau."
Mulder: "Not by Patterson."
Scully: "Why not?"
Mulder: "Didn't want to dirty my knees. (upon Scully's look) Couldn't quite cast myself in the role of the dutiful student."
Scully: "You mean you couldn't worship him."
Mulder: "Something like that, yeah."
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(Scully gets spooked by a black cat)
Scully: "Now our guys must have locked it in here."
Mulder: (looks under the bed at cat) "Pss-pss. (cat hisses at him and ducks into hole in wall) Uh no, he's obviously got his own key to the place."
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Mulder: "I've got a few theories, I'm just trying to stitch them together right now."
Patterson: "With your face stuck in a library book!"
Mulder: "You said it yourself, Bill. If you want to know the artist look at the art. (surprised at himself) I'm finally agreeing with you."
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Mulder: (to Patterson) "Well I wouldn't want to disappoint you by not disappointing you."
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Scully: (to Mulder) "Look, when I couldn't reach you I went to your apartment. I saw your new wallpaper." (referring to all the gargoyle drawings)
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(regarding Mulder's mental state)
Skinner: "Are you worried about him Agent Scully?"
Scully: (obviously scared and upset) "No sir."
Skinner: "Off the record."
Scully: (silence... the look...)
Skinner: "So am I."
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Mulder: (points to clay sculpture with cop's face) "It's Nemhauser. (pause to stitch the theories together) But you already knew that, didn't you?"
Patterson: "What is this?"
Mulder: (pointing gun at Patterson) "You killed him, Bill. When he suspected it was you. You killed him."
Patterson: "Are you out of your mind?"
Mulder: "Not me. Not now."
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Mulder's closing monologue:
"We work in the dark. We do what we can to battle the evil that would otherwise destroy us. But if a man's character is his fate, this fight is not a choice, but a calling. Yet sometimes the weight of this burden causes us to falter, breaching the fragile fortress of our mind, allowing the monsters without to turn within and we are left alone staring into the abyss. Into the
laughing face of madness."
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Season Three Episodes / Next Episode: Piper Maru
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