The X-Files (1993–…): Season 4, Episode 15 - Kaddish - full transcript

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Get the tape. Get it. It's in the back.

Come on!

It's all right. You don't have to do this.

No, I want to.

Why are you doing this?

Come.

His name was Isaac Luria. He lived
in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

Home to a sect of Hasidic Jews
since the late 19th century.



Also known for racial tension
and hate crimes

- Yankel Rosenbaum,
Tawana Brawley...

Now Isaac Luria - murdered
two days ago

in the market that he owned.

Severely beaten and shot five times
at point-blank range.

Police ruled out robbery cos the only thing
that was missing was this videotape...

..from the surveillance camera.
Police found it early this morning.

Where?

In the VCR of a 16-year-old
named Tony Oliver.

That's him on the upper right.

Has he been arrested?

No.

Because he's dead.

He'd been watching this tape
when he was strangled.



Very Old Testament.

Yeah. but with a new twist.

Brooklyn Homicide
contacted the FBI's civil rights branch...

..with an interesting set of prints
from the boy's body.

- Interesting how?
- They belonged to Isaac Luria.

Risen from the grave
to avenge his own death?

Some might assume that. It's probably
what someone would like us to think.

- But you have your own idea.
- I think that this is a crime of hatred...

..like the crime that spawned it.
A hatred that goes back 4,000 years.

But masquerading as something else here.

A callow attempt
at murderous retribution...

..disguised as spectral justice.

- A resurrection hoax?
- And not a very good one.

Yeah. Spectral figures are not often known
to leave fingerprints. Casper never did.

Somehow the killer got hold
of Isaac Luria‘s fingerprints.

And we have been asked to prove how.

Excuse me, sir. We're with the FBI.

We'd like to speak with Ariel Luria.

- Is she home?
- I'm Ariel's father. Jacob Weiss.

Why are you bothering her again?
She's already spoken with the police.

It's all right. Let them in.

Please. come in.

Thank you.

We can talk in the study.

This is why you are here?

This is what you come to ask
in this house of mourning?

What is this?

We'd like your permission
to reopen Isaac's grave.

No! The answer's no!

Why does this have to be done?

We're looking for evidence in the murder
of this young man. His name is Tony Oliver.

He's one of three suspects
in your husband's murder.

We believe it was an attack of retaliation
and that the other two suspects are targets.

- He's just a boy.
- He's an animal.

A monster, like the others who killed Isaac.

Whose grave you're asking us to desecrate
so you can protect them.

Tate, please.

But where were you
when Isaac needed your protection?

When we called the police,
they said that we were paranoid.

That there was nothing to worry about.

They always say that
when someone threatens the Jews.

So there was a threat of violence?

The threat is always there.

Just this morning...

..this is what I found under our door.

And now you've come here not to help us,...

..but to ask our help
so you can impose your justice...

..on the only man
who's taken justice into his own hands.

We'd be happy not to disturb the grave
if you could tell us who that man is.

Even if I knew, why would I tell you?

Because this is a homicide investigation
and you are required by law to assist us.

I know all about your laws.

I'm afraid that even without your consent,

we can get a court order to
exhume Isaac's grave.

Do what you feel is necessary.

But leave us alone.

Let us mourn in peace.

I have a feeling he knows
who killed Tony Oliver.

He doesn't want us disturbing the grave

because he knows what we'll find.

Maybe. But it's hard to fault his attitude

when you see something like that.

Anybody delivering justice to a people

who've known that kind of hatred...

- ..who wouldn't protect 'em?
- Justice or revenge?

I'm not saying those kids don't warrant
prosecution, but the hate goes both ways.

But the right to free expression
doesn't extend to murder.

I bet whoever published that
knows who killed Isaac Luria,...

..and has a good idea
who killed Tony Oliver too.

Sure I knew him.
He owned the store across the street.

But I'd be lying if I said
I was surprised it happened.

Why's that?

Well, you know how they are.

Always trying to find ways to make money
off of honest folk who work for a living.

Can you think of anyone who held a grudge?

- I can't think of anyone who didn't.
- Did you?

Why? I'm not... under
any kind of suspicion, am I?

No, not directly, but these young men are.

We have reason to believe you know them.

Their names are Derek Banks
and Clinton Macguire.

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with them.

Well, are you familiar with this?

We think those kids are familiar with it.

Enough to incite them to
murder Isaac Luria.

- You work for them too.
- Who?

You know who.
You look like you might be one yourself.

We work for the FBI, sir.

Who's the FBI work for?

That's right.

You call me paranoid, cos
that's exactly what they want you to do.

But there is one thing you can't call me
and that is a Zionist collaborator.

You take a long look at these photos.

It may be your last chance
to save their lives.

One of their accomplices...

.. Tony Oliver,
was found murdered this morning.

- Why tell me this?
- You haven't heard the rumours?

- What rumours?
- That Luria is back from the dead.

That he's risen from his grave.

What kind of Jew trick is this?

A Jew pulled it off 2,000 years ago.

We're just relating the evidence, sir.
You can draw your own conclusions.

But I know you wouldn't
want to be responsible for...

..endangering these young men's lives.

Bless you.

Derek?

You sure about this?

I heard them, man.
I'm not waiting around to find out if it's true.

Damn!

- What's wrong?
- It's nailed shut.

There's some tools in the trunk.

I got it open, man! Get down here!

Hey, Clinton. Check it out.

Clinton!

Hey, Clinton. Check it out.

Clinton?

You trying to mess with me?

Oh, man.

The ligature marks on the victim's neck
are consistent with our vigilante's MO.

Forensics come up with anything?

A second set of footprints.
but the mud was too soft to take a mould.

My guess is
Clinton was here with Derek Banks.

Looking for what?

Maybe they came to desecrate the corpse
as retribution for Tony Oliver‘s death.

Seems pretty redundant.

Messing up somebody
you've already killed?

I think they came here
because they were afraid.

Afraid?

Afraid that the man they hated enough
to kill wasn't really dead.

Look.

There goes your theory of how Luria's
prints got onto the victim's body.

What does that look like to you?

The body wasn't embalmed,
as according to custom.

Maybe it's postmortem Iividity
or some kind of tattooing.

It's hard to tell
at this stage of decomposition.

What's this?

A little bedtime reading?

- You owe me for two weeks.
- Where have you been?

Is it true?
You and your friends killed the Jew?

Just give me my money.

What the hell were you thinking?

I never told you to kill anyone.

No?

What did you expect me to do?

Hide back here like you, licking envelopes
in the dark, calling them names?

We're working to spread the truth.

The truth?

You're as pathetic as they are.

I am exposing their lies.

Man, those are just words.

You think they killed
my friends with words?

That's right. Clinton's dead too.

Now I'd like my money.

It's called the Safer Yezirah,
the Book of Creation.

The earliest known Hebrew text on man's
mystical communion with the divine.

- Is it ever buried with the dead?
- No.

In observance with the Jewish belief,
the corpse is buried only in its shroud.

No personal symbols of class
or worldly position are allowed.

Has it ever been known
to spontaneously combust?

Uh, no. No, it hasn't.

It's a book on mysticism,
not mysticism itself.

Is it printed on special paper
or with special ink?

No, it's just a book. Leather and paper.

I suspect somebody's
playing a trick on you.

Possibly moisture
may have Ieeched into the coffin,...

..into the binding and the pages of the book.

If the groundwater
was contaminated,

arsine gas could've created
a combustible mixture.

Is there anything that distinguishes this
particular Safer Yezirah from other books?

Yes, but it's barely legible
because of the burning.

It's a name engraved in the leather,
or stamped into the leather.

- A name?
- Yes, a Hebrew name.

Weiss.

Jacob Weiss.

Jacob Weiss.

- Why do you want to see him?
- There's been another murder.

Another suspect in your husband's death
was found dead last night.

- Where was this?
- Next to your husband's grave.

How does this concern my father?

He expressed strong feelings
towards this victim,

He was angry. They were angry words.

And we found evidence
placing him at the crime scene.

This is escalating into something else, Ariel.

Something that has to stop.

My marriage to Isaac...

You have to understand how much
it would have meant to my father.

"Would have meant"?

We got our marriage license a few weeks
ago, but the wedding wasn't until today.

I'm sorry.

I'd like to show you something.

It was a communal wedding ring
made in Kolin, a village near Prague.

My father was an apprentice
to the man who designed it.

- It's beautiful.
- Mm-hmm.

Every woman who got married in the
synagogue wore this ring as a symbol that...

..she was a queen,...

..her husband a king,...

..and the home they made a castle,
not only on their wedding day,...

..but for the rest of their lives together.

But most of those lives ended
in one day in the spring of 1943.

9.000 Jews were massacred
after digging their own graves.

But your father survived.

Because he was ten years old
and he was a jeweler's apprentice.

He had small fingers
to make bullets at a munitions factory.

And through all this he hid the ring?

Even after the war, he hid it.
Even from my mother.

Why?

Because to him it was a dead relic
from a forgotten place.

Until the day that I told him
I was getting married.

And for the first time in 50 years,
he took out this ring.

He said he felt his village was born again.

He knew how much I loved Isaac.

Ariel, tell us where your father is.

I know my father.
He would never kill anyone.

What if you're wrong?

Do you see him?

- I'm sorry. We don't mean any disrespect.
- Who are you?

We're looking for Jacob Weiss.

Why?

Mulder.

Don't move! Federal agent!

You OK, Mulder?

Yeah.

Put your hands in the air
where I can see them.

And turn around slowly.

I got him, Scully.

Mr Weiss, we're placing you under arrest.

Come on.

Let's go.

Where is he? Where's my father?

We've arrested him, Ariel,
under suspicion of murder.

I don't believe you. It can't be him.

Did he... Did he tell you
he killed this person?

I think that's the direction it's going.
Agent Mulder's with him now.

I need to see him.

- Ariel, I suggest you get him an attorney.
- I need to see him!

0K.

Ask Detective Bartley down the hall.

He'll give you a place to wait
until your fathers been processed.

Ariel...

I'm sorry.

Why'd you kill him, Jacob?

Our synagogue has been vandalized
13 times in the last year.

I heard a noise in the attic. I went up
to see what it was and he attacked me.

It was self-defense.

- Hanging a man in self-defense?
- Is it worse than what they did to Isaac?

Is it any better?

They found your book,
your Sefer Yezirah in Isaac Luria's grave.

- So?
- That puts you at a second crime scene.

I'm guilty. What more do you want?

- The truth.
- I have given you the truth!

There was someone else
in that attic with you. Who was it?

There was no one else.

Then you're a liar.

And you know nothing about nothing.
And I have no more to say about this.

I would like to see my daughter.

Wanna see the background check
I ran on him?

He emigrated to Israel after WWII and joined
the Irgun - the Jewish military underground.

He was arrested in 1959 by the British
for a bombing that killed seven civilians.

He was a terrorist, Mulder. A killer.

Not our killer though.

He just confessed.
I stood here and listened.

I think there was
a second person in that attic.

Weiss is protecting whoever it is.

Who? His daughter?

It was somebody strong enough
to knock me down.

Well, who do you think it was?

Stick around. This could be interesting.

- Where are you going?
- To see a man about a burning book.

They say you confessed.

- Why are you doing this?
- To protect you.

- From what?
- I think you know.

They found my book in Isaac's grave.

- It can't be true.
- No?

There's something you didn't tell me...

..about the contents of this Sefer Yezirah.

- What is it you want to know?
- The myth of the golem.

I told you, Mr Mulder.

This is a mystical text.

These pages are filled with golems and

dybbuks and demons
of all sizes and shapes.

It's the golem I'm interested in.

I'm interested in why an FBI agent
would be so interested in such a thing.

That's what I was hoping you could tell me.

The early cabalists...

..believed a righteous man could actually
create a living being from the earth itself.

Fashioned from mud or clay.

But this creature could only be brought
to life by the power of the word.

In practical terms,...

..by a direct application
of certain secret letter-combinations.

Combinations found in that book?

See? These pages.

They're basically instructions
for animating the inanimate.

And this...

Yeah, this passage here...

..talks about inscribing a single word
on the golem itself.

- 0n the back of his hand?
- I'm impressed.

- What is the magic word?
- Emet.

See, these three letters...

..alef, mem, tav,...

..creates the word "emet".

I don't know what that means.

Truth.

"Emet" means "truth".

But you see,...

..Mr Mulder, therein lies the paradox.

Because the danger of the truth
is contained in the word "golem" itself,...

..which means "matter without form,
body without soul".

So the golem is an imperfect creation.

A kind of monster, really.
Unable to speak or feel anything...

..but the most primitive emotions.

In the legends, it runs amok...
and has to be destroyed by its creator.

Destroyed how?

By erasing...

..the first letter, alef,...

.. "emet" becomes "met",...

..which means "dead".

Again, Mr Mulder,...

..the power of letters.

Not just to create, but to kill.

- Yeah?
- Mulder, there's been another homicide.

Who?

Curt Brunjes.
I'm on my way to the print shop.

I'll be there in ten minutes.

A man on a mission. Look at all
the energy he spent spreading his hatred.

He wasn't toiling in obscurity.

This mailing list has hundreds of names,
including our murder victims.

At least we know
Jacob Weiss didn't kill them.

I'll have him released.

Agent Scully?

The image is fuzzy,
but I think we've got a hit.

- There.
- Oh, my God.

It's Isaac Luria.

He's still alive.

I'm not so sure about that.

No, thank you. That won't be necessary.

The coroner matched Luria's dental records.

It was his corpse that was in that grave.

You know, this videotape,
it must have been altered somehow.

Planted by whoever is staging this hoax.

It's not a hoax, Scully. It never was.

- But if Luria is dead...
- This is not Luria. Not really.

Who do you think it is? Some kind of ghost?

No, a ghost is spirit without form.

But I believe what we're looking for

and what we're seeing here
is form without spirit.

- Something called a golem.
- A golem?

Yeah, it's a kind of a man made monster
described in Jewish folklore.

It's fashioned from mud and then
animated through mystical incantation.

Mud?

Mulder, what are you talking about?
And for what purpose? Exacting revenge?

I don't think it was hate that created
this golem, Scully. I think it was love.

Ariel, it's Agent Mulder. Open the door.

It's not locked.

Ariel?

She's not here, Scully.

How do you know?

Because it's her wedding day.

Ariel?

I know you're here. I know you can hear me.

Ariel?

Leave us alone, Tate. You don't belong here.

- I'm your father.
- Please go.

Not without you.

I'm not leaving without you.

- I want to see him.
- He's dead.

Isaac is dead.

No!

The boys that killed him,
their hate took him from you,...

..and you tried bringing him back
with your love.

But what you brought back,...

..you have to understand, Ariel,...

..it isn't him.

It's an abomination.

It has no place among the living.

He said he'd call me back, Tate.

We were talking on the phone...

..about the wedding.

Isaac said he had to go.

That a customer needed him,
and that he would call me back.

But when I heard the phone ring later,
something told me not to pick it up.

A woman's voice was on the line.

I didn't hear what she was saying.

I didn't have to.

I knew Isaac wasn't calling me back.

I was just wanted to say good-bye, Tate.

I know.

I know.

I didn't think.

It was just a wish.

They were just...

..words.

- Stay here.
- I want to go with you.

- No.
- Tate!

No!

Wait, I got a knife.

- His pulse is thready.
- Will he be OK?

- If we get him to a hospital.
- Call the paramedics.

- Where are you going?
- To find Ariel.

Ariel?

We found your father.
He's alive. He's gonna be OK.

I know about Isaac.

Where is he?

I don't know.

OK. We've gotta get out of here.

No.

- Come on, Ariel. Let's go.
- No.

We have to go. Come on, Ariel. Come on.

Isaac?

- Stop or I'll fire!
- No! No!

No!

Stop!

No.

Isaac!

lam to my beloved...

..as my beloved is to me.

I loved you.

Mulder?

Are you OK?

I heard shots fired.

What happened?

What is she doing?

Saying good-bye.

I made this!