The X-Files (1993–…): Season 1, Episode 22 - Born Again - full transcript

- What ho! - What ho!
Hey, Lazard, why do the night guys get a piece like you,...
..when we're stuck with old eel breath?
It's fate, detective...
..conspiring to keep us apart.
All right. I'm outta here.
See ya.
See ya tomorrow.
You all right?
You lost?
Anyway, I got her in the holding room, but she's not talking, at least not to me.
You're asking me cos you know I'm good with kids?
Yeah, a regular Mr Greenjeans.
Hi.
This is Detective Barbala.
He's gonna help you find your parents.
Hiya, sweetheart.
- What's your name? - Michelle.
Everything's gonna be all right, OK?
Don't be scared now.
Michelle what?
You said your first name was Michelle. What's your last name?
Bishop.
Bishop.
Michelle... Bishop.
And where do you live, Michelle?
Here in Buffalo?
What was that? Did you hear that?
Somebody call an ambulance!
- How'd you hear about us? - My brother. My brother's a cop.
Baltimore.
He told me about your work on the Tooms case.
He said you got a good feel for things... out of the ordinary.
Look, the truth is Barbala never won any popularity contests here at the 14.
But he's still a cop, you know?
I guess that's why I can't just let this rest.
You said there was one witness - a little girl. What did she say happened?
She said there was another man in the room.
- It stands to reason somebody was... - I was right outside.
There was nobody else except Barbala and the kid.
- You didn't get a description of the man? - I'm telling you, there was no one else.
Listen.
The department's treating this as a suicide, but I knew this guy.
There's no way he did himself.
Well, was he depressed or under psychiatric care of any kind?
Nah.
Only time he ever looked at himself was in the mirror,
and he always liked what he saw.
Plus, jumpers tend to open windows before they jump.
Where's the kid now?
She was released an hour ago. Her mother picked her up.
You don't think the girl had anything to do with it?
I don't know what to believe.
Eight years I've been on this force. I've seen a lot of strange things, but this kid...
Something's just not right about her.
Did he have long hair or short hair?
Shon.
Like that?
Was his hair dark like mine, or lighter like yours?
Like mine.
- How about a beard or a moustache? - Moustache.
You got a funny one?
Like this?
Or this?
Whoa. What happened?
Weird.
I didn't even hit a key.
Must be a glitch in the new software.
Michelle, was his moustache like that?
Do you have any idea how your daughter might have gotten there?
Buffalo's half an hour away by train, and the station is a five-minute car ride.
When I came home Mrs Dougherty was locked in the wine cellar.
I called the police immediately.
- And Mrs Dougherty is? - Michelle's nanny.
Her latest that is. She's already gone through four this year, and it's only April.
What seems to be the problem?
Michelle is the problem.
How do you mean?
As hard as it is for a mother to admit,...
..Michelle is a disturbed child.
Oh, I know this sounds terrible to say,...
..but the truth is that sometimes she frightens me.
Frightens you how?
She's not like other girls, Agent Scully.
Tell me.
She just isn't.
She doesn't have any friends.
She hardly ever smiles.
It breaks my heart, but I can't comfort her.
She says she sees things that I can't see.
She hears people yelling in her head.
Last summer we had to cover our pool.
Jim was trying to teach her how to swim,...
..but every time Michelle would get close to the water, she would start to scream.
Scream like you've never heard in all your life.
Your husband, where is he now?
We're divorced.
- Mrs Bishop. - Mm-hm?
This is the man Michelle said she saw at the police station. Do you recognise him?
No, I'm sorry.
She also mentioned a friend, someone named Sheila.
- Do you know who that is? - That would be Dr Braun.
She's the developmental psychologist at Brylin Hospital.
Michelle sees her twice a week.
Look at that.
Looks like a hawk. A falcon.
It's beautiful.
- It's called origami. - Japanese paper folding.
Where did she learn how to do that?
I have no idea.
- Harry, you'll put that face into the system? - As we speak.
Can you drive Scully into the city?
- Wait. We have an autopsy at seven. - That's your department.
I'm gonna go to Brylin Hospital, see if I can have a chat with Michelle's shrink.
Oh, and check for burns or lesions on Barbala's body.
Why?
Psychokinesis is usually associated with an electrical charge.
Are you saying Michelle possesses the ability to psychically project her own will?
How else could a 60lb kid throw a 200lb detective out the window?
No, I don 't recognise him.
I have no idea who this man is.
- Could Michelle have fabricated him? - Quite possibly.
As with many dissociative disorders, the intensity of the patient's emotions...
..is often too much for one personality to process.
So, in defence, part of the personality splits itself off.
As in schizophrenia?
I'm afraid Michelle's diagnosis is not that simple.
You see, my primary challenge has been to discover the source of her extreme rage.
In most cases, it's a traumatic event in the patient's past.
And in Michelle's case?
Occasionally I would leave Michelle alone for part of our sessions...
..with this doll.
Each time a new doll, anatomically intact.
And each time she dismembers and disfigures it in exactly the same way.
First I thought she was being abused, but after some sessions with her parents...
..I became convinced there was something else behind Michelle's anxiety.
Something much deeper, much more elusive.
- Any theories? - Frankly, no.
I'm at a loss.
Have you tried deep-progression hypnosis?
I've found hypnosis an unreliable approach at best.
OK. So how have you been treating Michelle?
The Thorazine has been effective in regulating her more bizarre behaviour.
I'm sure.
Have you observed any unexplained phenomena in Michelle's presence?
Unexplained phenomena?
Inordinate physical strength, psychic ability, telekinesis?
You're joking, of course.
I have a patient waiting, Agent Mulder. If you'll excuse me.
Note postmortem examination is being conducted...
..eleven hours and 45 minutes after subject was pronounced.
Note... raised... lesion...
..approximately seven centimeters below sternum.
Deep necrosis inconsistent with cause of death,...
..as pronounced by Dr Guilder.
And suggest localised electrocution.
But a further tissue analysis will be necessary.
Excuse me?
Could I talk to you for a second?
I just started the autopsy.
Yeah, um... I don't think he's going anywhere.
Will you, uh, take a couple for scale, please?
Thank you. Be right back.
So what do you think?
- Looks like a match. - Yeah.
Name's Charlie Morris. Officer Charlie Morris.
Used to work Narcotics out at the 27.
- D'you know him? - No. Before my time.
Well, where is he now? Has he been transferred?
You could say that.
Agent Scully, this guy's been dead for nine years.
Which means that little girl...
..saw a ghost.
This way, please.
Uh, just by the side of my desk.
He was killed in Chinatown, gangland style, allegedly by the Triads,...
..although no arrests were ever made.
If you're gonna tell me Michelle saw a poltergeist...
You're the one that found the lesion on Barbala's body...
..that could have been caused by a concentration of electro thermal energy.
"Could have been" being the operative phrase.
I won't know for sure until the lab results are in...
Why's it so hard to believe,
when all evidence suggests extraordinary phenomena?
Because sometimes...
- What? - ..looking for extreme possibilities...
..makes you blind to the probable explanation right in front of you.
This is the face that Michelle Bishop saw.
She walked by here and saw the face of Charlie Morris.
Which means there were no ghosts flying around the precinct.
D'you have the report describing Morris's death?
Yeah. I have what's been declassified. Why?
- Does it describe how he was murdered? - Yes, I told you. It was a signature hit.
Give me the grizzly details.
"His arm was severed just below the shoulder, presumably by a chain saw,...
..and his right eye was gouged out."
This is what Michelle did to a dozen dolls in her shrink's office.
Hell of a coincidence, wouldn't you say?
I think we should find out more about Charlie Morris.
I got the address of his partner on the force. Hopefully he can tell us something.
Detective Fiore? We're with the FBI.
Can we talk to you for a minute?
D'you know this man?
Do you mind if we do this out here? Uh, I don't wanna wake my wife.
This won't take long.
Yeah, sure I know him. That's Charlie... Charlie Morris.
You two were partners.
Yeah, we rode together his first nine months out of the Academy.
What can you tell us about the circumstances surrounding his death?
That matter is still under investigation, and so I can't comment on it.
Detective, we're under the direct authority of Captain Gersham at the 14th Precinct.
14th Precinct? I never worked out of the 14.
What's all this about?
We believe the death of Detective Barbala...
..can be linked to the death of Officer Morris nine years ago.
Linked how? I thought this Barbala flipped his wig and jumped out a window.
- Did you know the detective? - By reputation.
- What's this got to do with Charlie? - That's why we need your help.
The report said Officer Morris was killed off duty.
That's right. Best we can figure, it was some kind of payback.
- For what? - Around that time Organised Crime...
..was doing a major sweep in Chinatown.
- The Triads? - Yeah.
Some heavy busts went down against the Woo Shing Woo.
Lot of smack never made it to the street.
There were some pissed-off people playing mahjong that week.
So you think Charlie Morris was killed as a warning to back off?
I think they picked a cop, any cop,...
..and they whacked him.
- Who is it, Tony? - Oh, it's nothing to worry about, honey.
Just some people from the FBI asking about a case I'm working.
- Sir, would you mind... - Hey, it's the weekend. You guys mind?
You can get me at the squad first thing Monday morning, OK?
Good luck.
Is it me, or did we just get the brush-off?
- Did you notice her hands? - What?
He says she was sleeping, but her hands were dusted with baking flour.
It's not a big deal, all right?
Don't jerk yourself around, Tony. You're acting like a little bug.
- They were FBI! - So what?
They start sniffing around too much, they're gonna turn something up.
Relax. They're just people like us going through the motions.
Yeah? Then how are they connecting Charlie to Barbala?
And what do they know, huh?
Nothing.
Come on. We're going to Citibank right now.
- For what? - The safety box!
And what shall we do, Tony? Huh? Make a donation to the Little Sisters for the Poor?
Dump it somewhere.
Tony, there's only two of us left now. That's over a million each.
Take it all! I don't care!
Do your dream on the beach in Costa Rica, or wherever you wanna do it.
You think I like this, huh?
Selling disability insurance to morons?
"Well, sir, what if you should break your neck on the shore,...
..or lose your leg in a car crash?"
You listen to me, Tony.
We agreed to wait ten years and that is exactly what we're gonna do.
I listened to you once before and look what happened.
Nobody! Not me, not Barbala, wanted to see Charlie wind up like that.
We just tried to scare some sense into him.
It was an accident.
End of story.
And you better pull yourself together, Tony.
Excuse me, sir?
Hey! Wha...?
Hey! Hey, open the door!
Hey!
Hey, open the door! Hey!
Hey, open the door! Hey!
Hey! Open the door!
For God's sake, help me!
Agh!
Hey.
Hey, get your hands off me, all right.
A patrol unit picked her up a few blocks away from the bus stop.
What's going on?
We don't know.
All we know is that your daughter has witnessed two deaths in the past two days.
She's only eight years old. She couldn't possibly have done anything.
Mrs Bishop, no one is accusing Michelle of anything.
She's just a little girl.
Is there anything you have not told us?
Is there anything at all you can think of...
..that might shed some light on what happened tonight?
No.
Well, this police station has a designated room at the Sheraton.
An officer will take you and Michelle over there.
Why is this happening to us? Why?
Can I talk to you for a minute?
I'm sorry. Excuse me.
Listen to this. You know that guy that bought it tonight? Leon Felder?
Before he started peddling life insurance, he was a cop out of the 14.
Guess who his partner used to be?
Rudy Barbala.
Four cops.
Three of whom are now dead.
Their only connection being a drug bust in Chinatown almost nine years ago.
And a little girl from Orchard Park.
Morris, Fiore, Barbala and Felder.
What's wrong with this picture?
Well, for one thing, Fiore said he only knew Barbala by reputation.
Right. So why would he say that?
I don't know.
No...
Oh...
What?
There's a page gone from Morris's homicide file.
- Where could it be? - Is there a log sheet?
Should be.
Yeah.
Tony Fiore... Checked out this afternoon.
Mrs Fiore, we're sorry for the early hour, but is your husband home?
No, he's not. He never came home last night.
May we come in?
Scully.
Look familiar?
He said he was working a double shift,...
..but when I called the precinct, he wasn't scheduled.
It's just not like him not to call.
Does your husband have family or friends in the area
he might go to if he were in trouble?
I've been on the phone all night.
Is he in any trouble?
Did you husband ever mention a detective named Rudy Barbala?
Or an ex-police officer named Leon Felder?
I don't think so.
Someone you might have had dinner with once, a friend of Tony's from work,...
..a name you can't remember?
We don't normally socialise with other cops.
Mrs Fiore, I couldn't help noticing your origami collection.
Did you do these yourself?
Oh, no. Not me. No.
That was Charlie's hobby.
- Charlie? - My first husband.
He was born in Japan. His father was stationed there.
Not Charlie Morris, Tony's ex-partner.
Yeah.
I was waiting for him to come home, too, nine years ago.
Just like this.
He was working on a whole set from the painting.
The only animal he never got to was the giraffe.
See right there, behind the zebra?
Michelle is eight years old.
That means she was conceived at the same time Officer Morris was killed.
Do me a favour, Mulder, and let me say it. Reincarnation.
Metempsychosis, transmigration, re-embodiment - call it what you will.
All based on the coincidence
that Michelle Bishop and Officer Morris practised origami?
What about the drawing, the dolls,...
..and that Michelle witnessed two deaths that can be tied to Morris?
So you think he's back like Peter Proud to avenge his murder?
It's not so far-fetched, Scully. Reincarnation is a basic tenet of many major religions.
That still doesn't explain how an eight-year-old girl can kill two grown men.
Individuals with strong past-life memories often exhibit psychic abilities.
- ESP, telekinesis. - So where does that leave us?
One short step away from proving the pre-existence of the human soul.
On the count of five, tell me where you are now.
One... two... three... four... five.
- Do you know where you are? - Yes.
Where?
- Tell me where you are. - At home.
What time of day is it?
Night-time.
How old are you now?
24.
No! We can't! We can't do this! It's wrong!
What's wrong? What can't you do?
- It's all right. You can trust me. - No, I can't! I can't!
I can't! I can't!
- This is dangerous. - Dr Spitz has conducted many sessions...
If this continues, it could push Michelle deeper into withdrawal.
Is it more dangerous than pumping her with Thorazine?
They're killing me! They're killing me!
- That's enough! - Mrs Bishop...
No! No! No!
It's OK. It's OK. It’s OK.
It's over. It's over!
It's over.
- They just left. - We almost had it. We were right there.
- I know. - We'll have to try it again.
Mrs Bishop won't go for that. Not in this lifetime.
Then we have to change her mind.
How? And to what end?
I mean, what exactly do you hope to discover by all this?
The truth. What really happened to Charlie Morris nine years ago.
We'll find the truth when we find Fiore.
If we find Fiore. And if he's still alive.
Scully, you saw what happened in there.
What I saw was some... traumatised little girl...
..who, for no apparent reason, has some connection to Charlie Morris.
All evidence suggests Michelle is Charlie Morris.
- Mulder... - Short of her growing a moustache,...
..how much more apparent does it have to become for you to accept it?
OK.
Let's just say that by some small miracle
you managed to convince Michelle's mother...
..and the next hypnoregression provides you with all you could hope for.
No grand jury is gonna listen to that kind of testimony.
We still will not have an actionable case.
On the count of five, tell me where you are now...
The inconclusive results of Michelle 's regression...
..do not shake my basic belief in hypnosis as a tool for psychological healing.
Whether or not it offers us definitive proof of previous lifetimes is another matter.
However, in this particular case,...
..all other explanations seem to be even more wanting.
- How old are you? - 24.
No, we can't! We can’t do this! It's wrong!
What's wrong? What can’t you do?
- And how old are you? - 24.
No, we ca...!
24.
No, no, I... I wanna be here...
..in case he shows up.
Yeah, thanks again. I'll, uh...
I'll call you the minute I hear anything.
OK, yeah. OK. Bye-bye.
Tony!
Tony!
Tony?
I checked the wind-up profiles. They're up to speed.
Which means?
Whatever this image is, it was recorded in that room with the girl.
How is that possible?
There was a documented case in the '70s of a man from Porlock, Ohio...
..who could influence undeveloped film.
He could create shapes on the negative from his mind.
I don't know how much noise I can clean up.
Depends on the strength of the latent image.
I tracked him down.
He's retired in Palm Beach.
You were right, Agent Scully. He backed up all his records on disc.
Pathologists are paranoid by nature.
He faxed me the missing page from the autopsy report.
Great.
Well, apparently, Charlie Morris did not die as a result of his wounds.
Says here there was a frothing of fluid in the respiratory tract.
That indicates death by drowning.
So he was drowned first, then mutilated to make it look like a signature execution?
Dr Yamaguchi said there were no signs of submersion,...
..such as goose skin or wrinkled flesh, except for around the face and head.
Mm-hm. That's right.
Suggesting that he was killed in either a bathtub or a toilet. Except...
Except for what?
The marked bradycardia. It indicates a raised plasma sodium level.
He was killed in sea water.
Anita!
Anita!
Tony! Tony!
What's going on? Where have you been? I know something's going on.
I need you to listen to me right now.
I need you to go upstairs and pack a bag.
Why? What kind of trouble are you in?
I think someone's trying to kill me.
- Who? - I don't know.
Why would anybody want to kill you?
Tell me what's going on.
Will you please just do what I'm asking you!
Please.
I'm your husband and I love you, and I need you to trust me on this, OK?
Almost there.
What I've done is to map the frequencies of the interference.
Coefficients for sine on this monitor. Cosine on that one.
Now, using an algorithm program, I can remove the frequencies...
..like this.
Presto.
What the hell...?
Mulder, what is it?
- You said salt water, right? - Right. So?
So Charlie Morris was drowned in his own tropical fish tank.
That's what he last saw before he died.
We better hope Michelle Bishop is at home tucked in bed.
Tony.
Tony, somebody... somebody left this on our doorstep tonight.
Do you know who?
Answer me, Tony!
You stay here and keep the door closed.
- Agh! - Tony, are you all right?
Tony, answer me!
Tony!
Tony, please, who's there? What's happening?
- Agh. - Tony!
Let me out of here!
Mulder!
They said they were just gonna talk to you.
Talk some sense into you.
What was I supposed to do, huh?
All you had to do was take the money, man!
Why didn't you just take the money?
Agh! Ah... ah...
Tony, get me out!
Agh!
What's going on? Let me out!
- Go check upstairs. - Please open the door. I'm scared!
Michelle!
This won't make right what happened.
Please, I can't get out! Who's there?
I can't get out! Please!
Tony!
Tony!
Tony...
I'm sorry.
I knew what they did to Charlie.
I was a part of it and I never said anything.
I couldn't.
Oh, no...
No.
I just wanted to take care of you.
Who else would've taken care of you?
Oh, God...
No... No more...
Please... please don't hurt him any more.
Closing entry. File number X40271.
Detective Anthony Fiore pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court...
..to charges of first-degree murder after the fact,
grand larceny, and obstruction of justice.
The deaths of Detective Rudy Barbala and former police officer Leon Felder...
..are being ruled as accidental.
But their complicity in the murder of Charlie Morris has been definitively established.
No charges were brought against Michelle Bishop,...
.. who, today, took her first swimming lesson.
She claims no memory of the preceding events...
..and her mother and Dr Braun have denied my requests
for a second past-life regression.
End of field journal, April 19, 1994.
Agents of record: Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
Status: unexplained.
I made this!