written by: Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon
Directed by Daniel Sackheim
summary by Cathryn
Internal dating: On their first day in Iowa, Mulder sends a fax. It is dated August 26th 1993. They are there at least two more days after that.
Teaser: Opens exterior forest, lake shore: Campfire burning in rock circle, Coleman lantern, cooler, two kids in sleeping bags. One older girl, blond hair, one younger boy, brown hair. Reverse angle- girl shifts in her sleep showing camper in background. Second shot, interior camper. Middle aged woman in bunk. Shows skylight from the inside, then mother. Pan through makings for S'mores, faucet drip, full cup of coffee (?). Vibrations begin, things begin to fall to the floor, bright light through the windows, mother calls out. Noise and movement earthquake like. She hears the small boy calling "Mom...Mom..." She cries out "Kevin!" She burns herself on the metal door handle, indicating extreme heat. Boy is repeating Mom! Mom! Mom! She opens the door with an oven mitt. Kevin yells out "Mom- Ruby's gone." She grasps Kevin by the hand and shouts Ruby's name several times, while clutching her son to her. The last time that she shouts Ruby, she is looking straight up at the sky.
Opening line: The Truth is Out There
J. Edgar Hoover Building FBI Headquarters Washington, DC Interior Office, small, window, American Flag : Scully meeting with Section Chief Blevins in his office. He questions the validity of a 302 submitted by Mulder. Scully is not familiar with it. Blevins says that it came up through channels, from the ASAC to the G14 to Blevins. Indicates that a 302 is a request for assignment and travel expenses. He does not believe that the case is a valid one, shows her the file which includes a tabloid-type article headlined Teen Taken From Tent by Aliens. Bad Tie Man gives S another file- an X-file (it has a band of diagonal stripes around the outside) for the disappearance of Samantha T. Mulder of 2790 Vine St. Chilmark, MA. DOB January 22, 1964, and notes that she is American, and that her closest relation is Fox Mulder. It includes a picture of a little girl (aged between 6-8?) with two brown braids, wearing a bathing suit.
Blevins asks Scully if she knows, she admits it and briefly tells the story. (Samantha was 8 Mulder was 12, it was 21 years ago, Mulder claimed to have been in the room, he saw a bright light outside the window and felt a presence in the room.) Blevins asks her point blank whether she thinks that Mulder is allowing his personal agenda to cloud his professional judgment. Scully says no. Blevins says that Mulder's "preoccupation with fringe matters has been a big source of friction in the Bureau." He says that he is going to disallow the 302, S intervenes and say in her "reasonable" voice- she wants to talk to Mulder and make a recommendation before he does so.
Interior Basement Office: Mulder and Scully disagreeing about the legitimacy of the case. M says that asking impertinent questions is the essence of science. Scully wants to know "what makes this case any more credible than the 100 year old mother with the lizard baby." Mulder says "because the lizard baby wasn't born anywhere near lake Okabogee."
Slide show! Four sightings were reported in August of 1967, including a troop of girl scouts and a pilot. Picture taken by a girl scout. Official explanation is that it was a weather balloon caught in a wind sheer. Mulder points out the there wasn't a weather balloon launched that day within 700 miles. Scully still denies the connection until Mulder points out that the name of the mother of the missing girl (Ruby) is Darlene Morris, which matches the name of one of the scouts.
Sioux City, Iowa Blue govt. car pulls up in front of a brown house, satellite dish in the front yard. Darlene opens the door to Mulder and Scully. She says "I knew if I screamed loud and long enough that someone would listen, but I never expected the FBI." Her hand is bandaged. She brings them in, introduces Kevin, who is seated at the end of the dining room table, head bent over a notebook. Darlene tells him to say hi, but she gets no answer. Darlene offers them coffee and heads for the kitchen, Scully starts to follow, but notices that Mulder has stopped. Mulder is looking at the family photos on the mantelpiece. Mother, son and daughter mostly, no father. A prom picture of the missing girl. He focuses on a picture of Ruby as a little girl in a bathing suit and braids, a lot like the picture of his sister. He puts his hand to the photo and pauses.
Mulder, Scully and Darlene sit down at the kitchen table to talk. Darlene says the Kevin has been acting strange. Scully focuses on the possibility of the father's involvement. Darlene denies it, when Scully asks how she knows, she says it's because she Knows what happened. "It's just like before." Mulder cuts in- "Summer of '67, the girl scout troop?." Darlene asks him how he knows about it, Mulder says that her name is on record at the Center for UFO Studies in Evanston, IL. Darlene appeals to Mulder as a possible believer: "They took her didn't they Mr. Mulder?" He doesn't answer her. Mulder asks if he can talk with Kevin and leaves the room. Darlene says that she recognizes the look that Scully is giving her, it's the "same look she always gets," she can see the disbelief in her eyes.
Kevin is sitting in front of the TV which is tuned to "snow." Kevin does not acknowledge Mulder's overture. Mulder asks if he has been having nightmares, he says I guess so, but doesn't want to talk about it. Kevin is writing a series of 1s and 0s (11110001011001 etc.) on a pad of paper with a Sharpie. Mulder asks him "What are you doing? Can I take a look at it?" Kevin points at the TV and says "It's coming from there."
Interior - Sheriff's Department: Mulder faxes part of the 01100 sequence to a friend (Danny) using the Sheriff's letterhead. Mulder is on the phone with Danny who is reluctant to help. Mulder says that the friend of a friend can get him Redskins tickets if he will check out the code.
Short balding abrasive Sheriff- defends his investigation of the case when Mulder accuses him of mishandling the case. He says there is no evidence of kidnapping. He says that the past history of Ruby Morris (as a skank and a trouble maker, he implies) makes it infinitely more likely that she has gotten herself into trouble. He dismissed the statement of the family, not believing that abduction is possible. He says that he included it in his report. He thinks that Darlene is making it up so she doesn't have to face the facts.
Exterior - Street in front of the building they were in Scully tells Mulder that it isn't a good idea to antagonize the local law enforcement. Mulder says that he's been Mr. Congeniality, and that he'll send the Sheriff a bundt cake. Mulder finds a note under the driver's side wiper on their car. "I'M ACROSS THE STREET FOLLOW ME" They see a girl duck into the library across the street and they both run after her. She obviously does not want to be seen, keeps a bookcase between herself and the two agents. We can see enough to tell that she is blond and about Ruby's age. Scully asks the questions. When asked if she is a friend of Ruby's, she tells them that Ruby didn't have friends, just people she hung around with, and she says that they had some times together. She says that Ruby was supposed to meet a guy named Greg Randall on the night that she disappeared. She tells them that Ruby was pregnant and that they were supposed to leave town together. She sends them to the Pennsylvania Pub, where Greg was a bartender.
Evening A row of Harleys outside the bar, with appropriate extras. Shot of the sign outside the Pennsylvania Hotel & Pub. Interior, Pool being played, lots of guys with beards, long hair, leather & tattoos. The guy behind the bar- owner? wants to know who they are (Mulder flips open his credentials) and what kind of trouble Greg's in. He says that he hasn't seen or heard from Greg in two weeks. They leave a card in case he does, and he tells them that if they see Greg, to tell him that he's fired. As they leave, Mulder notices a tattoo of a flying saucer on his biceps. Mulder pretends not to believe. He says people who do believe are just crazy people howling at the moon. Asks if Mulder has ever been to lake Okabogee? Shows them his ear, which had been covered by his hair. It's scarred and deformed, he says from a "killer sunburn in the middle of the night."
Stay 'n' Save Motor Inn Scully wakes at 5:30, sees several shadows pass her window. She slips out of bed (wearing purple/blue silk pajamas). Her door rattles and she moves towards her gun but it's on the other side of the room. Several men burst in and shine a flashlight in her face, ask her where Mulder is.
Mulder shirtless, sitting on the bed, room full of suited men. "Where did you get the document?" Mulder at his most uncooperative. Show him a "document" (Kevin's binary code) and demand to know where it came from. Mulder does his typical chaffing under authority act, obviously recognizing the guy. His name is Holzman and he's from the NSA. He claims that the document is a defense satellite transmission, but Mulder refuses to tell him where it's from. Holzman threatens to "haul your ass up before the D6." Mulder says that he's "not accountable to anyone outside my subcommittee - I don't care if it's the NSA or the Vatican police." They get a phone call and leave. Scully comes into the room. He accuses her of telling them. She tells him that it's national security. Incredulous, he asks her how an 8 year old could be a threat to national security. "People call me paranoid."
Interior - Morris house Kevin's room: NSA agents ransacking child's room, taking papers, pulling drawings off of the wall, flipping through books, tossing stuff on the floor. Scully and Mulder arrive to find Darlene and Kevin being taken away in separate cars. Mulder watches them go. Mulder and Scully go upstairs to Kevin's room and watch the carnage. Kevin's piggy bank broken on the floor. Mulder comments on their "delicate" work. Mulder looks out window at the roof of the camper. Scully stays up at the window while Mulder goes back outside and climbs ladder to look at blistered black flaky roof of the camper. He picks up a bit, crumbles it between his fingers and smells it.
FBI Regional Headquarters: A female computer techie, Agent Netsumi going over the binary code which has been entered into a computer. There were 77 pages of code, but nothing actionable. It has been determined that it was a satellite transmission but that there is not threat so Darlene and Kevin will be released. The code turns out to be a range of information encoded digitally. Fragments of many things including Da Vinci's universal man, a DNA double helix, part of the Brandenburg concerto, a passage from the Koran, a Shakespearean sonnet. Mulder comments that it's like someone is switching channels.
Interior building- holding area 112: Confrontation between Darlene and Mulder, Darlene asks Kevin to go stand away from them for a minute. She is very angry at them for putting Kevin through this. She says that she thought that they were there to help. Scully tries to apologize, offers to pay for damages, Darlene says that she doesn't want there money, she just wants Ruby back and to be left alone. Mulder still wants to talk to Kevin, but she tells them both to stay away from him. Kevin is looking at the three security monitors over a guard station.
Moving car: Mulder and Scully back in their car, they pass the exit for downtown. Mulder insists that that Kevin is the key finding Ruby. He asks Scully to explain the binary code and the best she can come up with is a "statistical aberration." Mulder believes that because Kevin was present at the time of the abduction, he is serving as a link to the captors. "Kevin is a conduit of some kind- a link or connection to whoever or whatever took Ruby." Scully confronts him because she is worried that he is only following this because of the similarities between this case and his own experience. She does not think that the case is real, that there is not evidence that this was an abduction. "I know why this is so important to you...I know...but there is no evidence."
Exterior waterfront Lake Okabogee: Scully comments that the campsite is close to the forest wall. Mulder asks what her point is? She says that it would be easy for someone to come out of the woods and grab Ruby. Mulder points out that the tree line shows evidence of extreme heat. Scully suggests lightning. She says that there is nothing to connect the evidence to the night of Ruby's disappearance. Mulder kicks at something in the sand at the lake edge. Picks it up and asks Scully if she knows at what temperature sand solidifies into glass- 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. He asks her what could have been here that was hot enough to do all this plus blister the roof of the camper. XXX Scully looks up and sees a white wolf (I think) at the forest wall. Mulder follows him into the woods to find several wolves worrying at a pile of rocks in the otherwise dirt/fern forest floor. Mulder fires his gun to scare them away, Scully comes running at the sound to find him kneeling at what appears to be a grave, shallow, smelly, and rock covered. Mulder starts to pull off the rocks but Scully stops him. (cross-reference Paper Hearts season 4) She says that he would be disturbing a crime scene. Mulder says "What if it's her? I need to know."
Crime scene Yellow tape, dusting for prints, photos. A forensics team is dismantling the site. S: You OK Mulder? M: Fine. Uncovers the face. Removal of the rocks show it to be the grave of a Caucasian male. His wallet shows him to be Greg Randall. Mulder asks if he can look at the wallet before they take it. He puts on a pair of gloves and checks it. Sees a quantity of cash and a note that says "DR. JACK FOWLER AUGUST 7 - 2:30"
Back at the Sheriff's office Mulder and Scully use a copier to enlarge the note found in Randall's wallet, then compare it with the note Mulder found under the windshield from their female informant. The F and the O are good matches. I'd guess at this point, the sheriff is becoming more involved with the case- he shows enough interest here to offer help. He tells them that he is a friend of Dr. Fowler's and can find out who exactly had the appointment.
Two officers bring in the blond informant Tessa Sears, dressed in boots, a skank skirt and leather. The walk her down the hall and leave her in an interrogation room with Scully and Mulder. Mulder holds back against the wall and Scully begins to question Tessa. Scully is calm, but threatening. She is confident of her facts. Scully tells Tessa that they know that Tessa is the one that is pregnant and also involved with Randall. "We know" she lied about the appointment, about the pregnancy, and they can prove it. She tells her that this is a very serious thing. Scully tells her that since she has waived her right to an attorney lying to them is perjury. Tessa, in the face of Scully's certitude, admits to the pregnancy, and tells them that Randall promised her that they would be in LA by Christmas. She rather pathetically points out that she's never seen the ocean. She knew that Ruby and Greg planned to meet that night, but she emphatically denies being at the Lake on the night of Ruby's disappearance.
Mulder breaks in at this point, and accuses Tessa of anger and jealousy, of shooting Randall and then killing Ruby. He is very confrontational and uses his hand slamming down on the table to indicate gunshots. He accuses her of going up to the Lake in order to confront them. Tessa denies killing Ruby or being at the Lake. Mulder goads her into stating that Ruby wasn't even there that night. Mulder tells her that she could only be so sure of this if she was there herself. "How would you know?"
Outside in the hall. Scully tells Mulder that the case is over, that Ruby in all likelihood is dead. Mulder denies that the conventional explanation is true. Scully wants to go home and turn the rest of the investigation over to the locals. Mulder says "I can't do that" Mulder wants to talk to Kevin again, still believing that he is the key to the situation. Scully tells him to stop running after his (M's) sister, that this won't bring her back. Mulder asks her to choose. "Come with me, or don't come with me, but until they find a body I am not giving up on that girl."
The Morris House There is not answer when they knock, and the front door is open. The TV is on (static again) and the sheets of paper which Kevin has been covering with 1s and 0s are spread out on the floor to make one flat sheet. A tea kettle begins to whistle, everything indicates that someone left in a hurry and recently. Mulder contemplating the pages on the floor, seated with his elbows on his knees, but doesn't see any connection or pattern. Scully goes to check upstairs, from the landing she looks down on the papers. "Oh my God" She tells Mulder to come up and see. The 1s and Os form Ruby's portrait, in the same way that any picture can be digitized impressionistically.
After dark Driving past the sign for Okabogee National Park Mulder tells Scully about a ritual he created when his sister disappeared. He would close his eyes before he walked into his room. One day, he would open them and she (Samantha) would be there, lying in bed. "I'm still walking into that room every day of my life.
Findintg the camper parked at the lake, they go to the head of a trail. No one there, but they hear a voice calling. They catch up with Darlene as she trips and falls. "It's here, I saw it." Kevin is up ahead, she wasn't able to catch up with him. Mulder goes in pursuit, Scully stays. Mist up over a hill. There's an orange light and a rumbling sound approaching from the hill. Mulder calls out, but Kevin continues. Kevin is standing in the path staring in that direction. Mulder pulls him aside just as the motorcycles crest the hill and stream past them.
Kevin looks up at Mulder and says "She's back...She's here I know it" Scully yells out MULDER. He runs back toward her with Kevin in tow. They find Ruby, naked, unconscious. She appears to be all right.
At the hospital Mulder and Scully coming down the corridor. Scully explains Ruby's condition. She's in a coma, but expected to recover. There is no head injury, no drugs, no electrolyte abnormalities, but her white blood cell count is sky high. Mulder asks if there has been a reduction of the lymphocyte population or a release of glucocorticoids. (There has.) These are symptoms of prolonged weightlessness reported by shuttle astronauts. (Scully's empirical proof.)
They knock on Ruby's hospital room door. Kevin lets them in. Scully introduces them both and asks her how she feels. Ruby says that she's fine "I guess." Mulder asks if she knows where she's been. Ruby is reluctant to speak. Kevin tells her that it's OK, that "He knows." Ruby says that she's not supposed to tell, that they told her not to say. Mulder asks "Who told you?" Darlene interrupts. Tells Ruby that she doesn't have to say anything. She comes into the room and asks Mulder and Scully to come outside for a moment.
Out in the hall. Darlene refuses to let them speak with Ruby again, she denies that there is anything here out of the ordinary. She wants to put it all behind them. She'd prefer for Ruby to keep the truth locked up inside her, doesn't want her to have to remember. She is trying to protect her from what she was subjected to when she told the truth. Mulder says that the truth has to be told. Darlene says that the truth has caused her nothing but heartache, and that as far as she's concerned, Ruby spent the last month on the back of a Harley. Mulder asks "Is that what you're going to tell Kevin?" Darlene says I'm sorry and walks away. Kevin looks out at Mulder and Darlene pulls him inside as the door closes.
Scully is sitting at a desk with a tape player in front of her and the Samantha X-file. She flips over a tape labeled: F. Mulder Hypnotic Regression Ther/ Session Number 2B: June 16, 1/ (the right hand edge is cut off by shadow) and presses play.
Therapist: But your eyes are open
(Scully looks at the file)
Mulder: Yeah they're open, but it's like nothing is happening
T: Try turning your head
M: I can't
T: Why not?
M: I don't know...I can't move... so I don't...I just lie there in bed
T: Can you see your sister?
M: No but I can hear her
T: What does she say?
M: She's calling out my name... over and over again...she's crying out for help... but I can't help her... I can't move
(Scully looks at a picture from the file, then the camera shows us a picture that Mulder's holding, a black and white shot of himself and Samantha smiling for the camera. Mulder is sitting in a church pew under a stained glass window (the window shows a crucifixion scene with a darker background area that is shaped an awful lot like a UFO) Mulder, crying bows his head and leans forward into the pew back in front of him, going to his knees, begins to fade out)
T: Are you scared?
M: I know I should be but I'm not
T: Do you know why?
M: Because of the voice
T: The voice?
M: The voice in my head
T: What's it telling you?
M: Not to be afraid...It's telling me that no harm will come to her and that one day she will return . (Fading out)
T: Do you believe the voice?
(Black)
M: ...I want to believe.