The X-Files (1993–…): Season 6, Episode 10 - Tithonus - full transcript

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(footsteps)

(lift bell dings)

(gasping and grunting)

(shouting)

(screaming)

(screaming continues)

(crash)

(camera flash charging)

Just a routine background check.

Now, to the best of your knowledge, has
Mr Wisnowski ever used any illegal drugs?



Which illegal drugs?

Yeah. In the time that you
worked with Ms Ermentrout,

did you find her to be a trustworthy person?

Punctual, huh? Punctual... is good.

No. No, ma'am_ This is just
a routine background check.

Mr Garber is not in any
legal trouble whatsoever.

Yeah. OK. Thanks for your time.

Maybe if we get lucky, next time
they'll let us clean toilet bowls.

- Are you ready to quit?
- No.

That would make way too many people
way too happy.

(phone rings)

Scully.

I'm on my way.

(whispers) Called into Kersh's office. Just me.



Justyou?

Don't forget your toilet brush!

No. No, ma'am, not you.

(knock on door)

- Agent.
- Sir.

Dana Scully, this is Agent Peyton Ritter
with the Bureau's New York office.

- Agent Ritter.
- Hi.

Show her what you have.

Our office is currently updating
its case filing system.

While I was involved in this project,

scanning old crime-scene photographs
into the computer, I came across this.

Ivlargareta Stoller. Age: 57.

Cause of death: an overdose of nitraz...

Take a look at when they found her.

A neighbour called the police at 11:14pm

Right. So, what's wrong with that picture?

The clock says that it's 45 minutes earlier.
A clock can be wrong.

They certainly can. So I checked
the Post from the following day.

These are straight from their photo files.

Hmm. Almost an hour and a half later.

Two different negatives,
same photographer.

The guy's name is Alfred Fellig_

He's rattled around Manhattan for years,

apparently a stringer for the wire services
and an on-call guy for NYPD.

And you suspect this man Feliig?
You think that Mrs Stoller wasn't a suicide?

This guy's into takin' pictures, right?

So I'm thinkin':
what if he poisons this woman,

then snaps a few of her dead body,

then winds up back
in the same apartment an hour later

after Midtown North
calls him over to do the job?

That's quite a theory.

Yeah. The thing is, he might have
done it on more than one occasion.

I've sifted through probably
2,000 of his police photos.

These three have measurable solar shadows.

- Since we know each location...
- You know the time of day by the shadows.

Right. And with it, these three
are looking every bit as hinky_

You have another suicide,
a heart attack, and an obvious murder

for which another man was convicted.

There's no consistent MO.

There's no consistent anything.

I could sure use your help.

Agent, could you step outside, please?

Sure.

I'd say he has
a promising career ahead of him.

So did you... at one time.

With your expertise in forensic pathology,
you'd be an asset to this investigation.

It would be more challenging
than running background checks.

Agent Mulder and I will begin immediately.

Agent Mulder's a lost cause.
I'm taking the chance you're not.

It's you and Ritter.

Do not let me down.

(panting)

(grunting/groaning)

(cries out)

(camera flash charging)

(panting/gasping)

- Mulder?
- Hmm?

- What are you doing?
- Bein' nosy.

Eatin' my heart out.
You're going on an X-File.

- It's not an X-File.
- That's not what I read.

Murder by telekinesis?
Maybe a shamanistic "death touch"?

The Muslim superstition that to
photograph someone is to steal their soul?

Thank you. All very helpful.

So they're splitting us up, huh?

No. This is a one-time thing.

Who told you that? If you do a good job,
they won't stick you back here.

Right?

Agent Scully, we're all set.

Peyton Ritter, this is Fox Mulder.

- It's a pleasure to meet you, Fox.
- Pleasure to meet you, Peyton.

- We should get going.
- Off to New York.

Alfred Fellig. What can you tell us about him?

What's to tell? He's one of 10,000 people here
who have a license to piss people off.

He doubles as a crime-scene
photographer for your precinct.

Yeah, he comes in, snaps the picture.

Keeps to himself.

There's not much personal information there.

There's not supposed to be.
It's just a yearly renewal form.

Would you happen to know when
the original background check was done?

Here he is again. Yearly renewal dating back
to January 1970, but still no original.

I think I've got it.

1964.

(whistles) Old-timer.

- Anything interesting?
- Maybe.

- What are you doing?
- Take a look at this.

1996...

'87... '85... '73...

(sighs)

The guy's a regular Dick Clark.

I don't know what to say.

Other than the fact that he's always
been a geezer, this looks like a dead end.

Help! Help! Somebody call the police!

- What do you want? Are you crazy?
- (oar honking)

Please help me! Lady, please! Help me!

Man, what do you want from me, man?!
Oh, man, no!

(yelling)

(camera clicks)

(camera clicking)

(camera flash charging)

(switchblade clicks open)

(grunting)

(gasping)

(siren approaching)

The prints are Alfred Fellig's.

Positive match - right off
his 1964 background check.

I slipped them into the SAFIS database.

First thing this morning -
boom - up they came.

You're thinking this is Fellig's work?

The wound measurements
match with the knife.

- He got pretty sloppy in his old age.
- What's this?

- A whole lot of blood.
- Yeah, I got that.

- it's pretty clear he took a second victim.
- Where's the second body?

- They found Fellig_
- Where?

Home, watchin' TV.
They're bringin' him in now.

Check, check...

January 4th, 11:36am.

15th Precinct, IVIannattan.

Agents present:
Dana Scully and Peyton Ritter.

- Initial interview with...
- (door opens)

_.Alfred Fellig_

Hello.

You're a photographer.

I've seen some of your work. You specialise
in some pretty dark subject matter.

You're around death a lot.
It must fascinate you.

Am I boring you, Mr Fellig?

Ask me a question already.

Au right.

Why are you always Johnny-on-the-spot
every time somebody dies?

You're always there to take the picture. How?

I have a... a nose for news.

Mr Fellig, your fingerprints were found
on a murder weapon at a crime scene.

Could you give us a full accounting
of your activities last night?

The Bronx. I was on a job.

I saw some jibone stealin'
a kid's tennis shoes.

He chased me. Ran off.

He ran off?

Some unidentified murderer?

I guess I could identify him.

Your fingerprints were found on the knife.

- (grunts)
- How did they get there?

He left the knife behind.
I guess I touched it... briefly.

Why would you do that?

Were you injured, IVIr Fellig?

You seem to be in pain.

Were you attacked?

We found other blood at the crime scene,

and, when we have it tested,

I'm wondering if we're
gonna learn that it's yours.

- I got cut some.
- IVlay we see?

(groaning)

IVlay I help you?

Hey.

Hey. Take Mr Fellig to get his blood drawn.

And photograph his back, too.

Hey, I'm confused. I thought we were tryin' to
bust him, not look for reasons to let him go.

I thought we were looking for the truth.

(ringing tone)

- Scully.
- Hi. My name is Fox IVlulder.

We used to sit next to each other at the FBI.

How's your X-File comin'?

Mulder, it's not...

(sighs)

We haven't made much headway.

We arrested Alfred Fellig,
and we just released him.

- What about the stabbing?
- How do you know about that?

I told ya, I'm nosy.
Why are you Iettin' him go?

We pulled another set
of prints off of the knife.

They belong to a convicted murderer
named Malcolm Wiggins.

And the fact that Fellig's blood was found at
the crime scene tells me his story checks out.

At least, that particular story, anyvvay_

But you still think Fellig's a murderer?

I don't know what to think.

He's, uh...

UnusuaL

As in, he plugs up like
a cork when you stab him?

Where are you getting this stuff?

Ritter's been sending
progress reports to Kersn

My computer inadvertently intercepted a few.

He's got nice things to say
about you, though... mostly.

Why don't you let me do
a background check on Fellig?

- Mulder...
- It's what I do now. I'm gettin' good at it.

I'm parked around the block.

Fellig's asleep. I haven't seen
him move in over four hours.

Have a lovely evening.

(camera clicking)

(pounding on door)
Mr Fellig, open up, please.

Explain this.

What?

You took that photo
an hour before police arrived.

You then covered up that fact
by photographing the scene again.

I don't think I remember that one.

You have a long and uncanny history of
being the first person at the scene of a death.

You also have a history of
covering up that fact. Why?

Am I under arrest... again?

Are you a murderer?

Then explain yourself, sir.

Because I promise, until you do,
you will not get a moment's peace.

You want to take a ride with me?

You come with me. I'll show you.

It's been an hour.

- Are we gonna drive around all night?
- Yeah. This is it.

This is what I do.

Lookin' for the shot.

- What shot?
- The shot.

Her.

She's about to die.

What are you talking about?

Could happen in the next minute, in the next
hour, but it'll happen, just as plain as day.

Look, Mr...

Fellig, I don't know what you're planning,

but nobody here's gonna die.

I'm not planning anything.

I'm just here to tell you
what's gonna happen.

That that woman there
is gonna be murdered?

I didn't say "murdered"_

She's a smoker. She might die of lung cancer.

The "how" is always a surprise.

I just always know when.

You want me to believe that?

(man) What are you doin' out here, huh?

It's so cold out, huh?

(continues speaking indistinctly)

- (man) All right?
- Get out of my face! Get off me!

(man and woman arguing)

(camera flash charging)

I don't want your money!

You creep! Get off of me! Let go of me!

(arguing continues)

FBI! Don't move!

- Where'd you come from?
- Shut up!

Get down! Back up!

(woman) You're not such a big man now!

That gun ain't mine, Red.

- You all right?
- I'm outta here.

(honking)

Dana, what the hell is goin' on?

Assault and possession of
an unregistered handgun.

- Why didn't you call me sooner?
- I apologise.

You blew off the surveillance?

The surveillance was blown
before I got there.

You blew off the surveillance
and took a little joyride with him?

I questioned Fellig about his involvement
in the deaths that he photographed.

- Is that OK?
- What did he say?

He said that he can tell
when people are about to die.

If New York passes a Good Samaritan law,
we might nail him.

Other than that, we won't get him for murder.

Wrong. Let me show you something.

They picked up Mr Wiggins last night.
He says Fellig killed that kid, not him.

- He said he just happened along.
- A convicted murderer half Fellig's age.

He would've come in, but he was
afraid we wouldn't have believed him.

He's right.

Tell me, did he have any help
concocting that story?

Look. Fellig is a murderer.

Whether he did this one, I don't care.

Not if it buys me a few days
in the box with him.

- No judge will issue a warrant based on this.
- I know the judge We'll have it by noon.

- You know, Kersh warned me about you.
- He did?

You and your partner - his reputation
precedes him, so I should've seen it comin'.

You muck up my case, and Kersh'll
hear about it. Are we clear, Dana?

- Scully.
- (cellphone rings)

And we're done with this conversation.

- Yeah.
- (Mulder) Hey, Scully.

How's that X-File? And before
you tell me it's not an X-File...

- It is.
- What happened?

Alfred Fellig seems to know
an awful lot about death.

Yeah? Well, that's not surprising, given
that he's reached the ripe old age of 149.

- Excuse me?
- I did a low-tech background check on him.

This stuff is so old,
they don't keep it on computer.

But Alfred Fellig doesn't exist before 1964,
but one Henry Strand does.

He applied for a press pass from
the Jersey City Police in 1939 at age 53.

His prints match Fellig's.

But there must be some kind of a mistake.

You think? Because this Henry Strand
does not exist before 1939.

However, one LH Rice is on record

as having sat for the
New York State Civil Service Exam.

The records don't show whether he passed.

But his thumbprint? Fellig's.

Want to know what LH Rice's birthday is?

April 4th, 1849.

I'm not good at math, but that's
a whole lot of candles on the cake.

I have spent time with this man,
and he can't be more than 65 years old.

I think that's what he wants you to think.

He's a guy for whom the phrase "life in
prison" carries some weighty connotations.

You should get to him before he
vanishes and becomes someone else.

(car honks)

(police radio scanner)

You are going to be arrested,
Mr Fellig, in two hours.

Charged with murder.

And this time you won't be able
to just change your name.

I showed you what I do last night.
Just take the pictures.

What you showed me was a contemptible
lack of compassion for another human being.

You showed me that you
profit off of people's deaths.

Now, why shouldn't you go to prison?

You want me to cry for them?

You want me to make
like I feel sorry for them?

I don't.

Lucky bastards.

- Every one of 'em.
- Lucky?

I'm just there to get the shot.

I don't take those people. He does.

Who's "he"?

That's him.

He's the one who takes them.

You're saying this is
a photograph of death itself?

It's a glimpse. Just a glimpse.

But it's closer than I've gotten in...

I can't even count the years.

And this is the shot that
you spoke of. This is...

- what you try and get.
- IVlm-hm.

Mr Fellig, I know... that you know
more about photography than I do.

But this is just a lens flare.

You're right. I do know more
about photography than you do.

OK. I, um...

For the sake of argument, why bother?

I mean, why take a picture of death?

So I can look into his face.

So I can die.

Pills don't work.

Razors, gas, bridges...

I can't tell ya how many bridges
I've jumped off of. All I get is wet.

I got left behind.

I don't want to be here any more.

I can't even remember a time when I did.

This is...

This is all I know... to do.

You know I don't believe you.

Yes, you do.

It's why you're here.

How is it you know when
people are about to die?

Oh...

You chase it long enough, you pick it up.

Excuse me.

- (phone rings)
- Mulder.

- Mulder, it's me.
- Hi.

Those other two names that you said
that Fellig went by - Strand and Rice?

Yeah. Henry Strand and LH Rice.

What about Louis Brady?

Uh... no. But there's a big gap before 1939.

(Scully) Will you check it out for me?

I'm sticking here to
make sure he doesn't bolt.

Louis Brady, Mulder.

Tell me what you find out.

(hangs up phone)

Mr Fellig?

Oops. Excuse me. I have a film out.
Hold on a second.

(cellphone rings)

- Ritter.
- it's Agent Mulder.

- Is Agent Scully there with you?
- No. Nor do I seem to be able to find her.

DC Cellular says her phone is turned off.

- What can I do for you?
- You can find her for me.

Listen, Agent Mulder, I'm
on my way to arrest Alfred Fellig_

That's where I think she is.

And you were right. Fellig is a murderer -
under the name Louis Brady.

He suffocated two patients in a hospital.
He says he meant to catch up with death.

After one year in prison,
he walked off a work detail.

The manhunt never officially ceased.

- When was this?
- 1929.

Whoa-whoa-whoa. When?

Look, Ritter, don't sweat the math. it's him.

- Just get there and find Agent Scully.
- All right, I'm on it.

You know, most people want to live for ever.

Most people are idiots.

Which is one of the reasons I don't.

I think you're wrong.

How can you have too much life?

There's too much to learn, to experience.

75 years... is enough.

Take my word for it.

You live for ever, you start to think
about the big thing you're missing

and that everybody else
gets to find out about but you.

What about love?

What, does that last for ever?

40 years ago, I drove down to the city hall,

down to the hall of records.

Record archives, or whatever they call it.
I wanted to... look up my wife.

It... bothered me
I couldn't remember her name.

Love lasts... 75 years, if you're lucky.

You don't want to be around when it's gone.

Count your blessings.

Why are you this way?

I mean, if this is true, give me
something in the way of proof.

Help me find some science
that I can hang this on.

It has nothing to do with science.

- Someone took my place.
- Took your place?

I don't know her name.

I don't think I ever knew it.

I had yellow fever, way the hell back
then when it killed half of New York.

Washington Square Park was
a common grave, they had so many bodies.

They'd bury them shallow.

They wrapped them in yellow sheets,

and the yellow sheets would
stick up through the mud.

I was in a city-run contagion ward.

I was out of my head with fever,
out of my mind. Then I saw him.

Saw Death.

I wish I'd had a camera then.

At first, I... I just saw him
out of the corner of my eye.

Then he got bolder and he
started flitting around the room,

and he'cl take this person,
then he'd take that person.

And I never saw his face.
I didn't want to see his face.

I figured if I saw it, he'd take me too.

- But he didn't.
- No.

There was a nurse.

She did the best she could.

Back then...

Medical science was...

They couldn't find their ass with both hands.

But she did the best she could.
She sat with me and held my hand and...

I was on my deathbed_

Then he came for me. I didn't look at him.

Closed my eyes and turned my head.

I didn't tell her not to look at him.
I wanted her to look at him.

I wanted her to look at him, instead of me.

And then I came to, and the fever broke.

They were carrying her out,
wrapped up in a yellow sheet.

Since that time, I realised you
gotta be careful what you wish for.

I missed my chance.

You're very lucky, you know that?

What do you mean?

Wait a minute.

Say what's on your mind.
You mean "lucky" like the others?

You want me to believe I'm about to die?

I just want to take the picture.

You took my picture last night.

- Is this why?
- That was different.

I'm not gonna die!

- (camera flash charging)
- Turn that off.

- No.
- Turn it off right now! Put it down!

There's nothing to be done for it.

- You took my phone. Why?
- Please. Just give me a chance.

- What don't you want me to know?
- He's coming.

- And you should just make your peace.
- Shut up!

(crash)

He's here.

(camera flash charging)

Agent?

Oh God. No, no, no.

Come on. Come on, dammit_

(gasping)

I'll get help. We need some help in here!

Do you see him?

Do you see him?

Don't look.

Close your eyes.

You're a lucky man.

The coroner's report came back on Fellig_
It says he died of a single gunshot wound.

That's all it said.

I... talked to your doctor
and he says you're doin' great.

You're makin' the fastest
recovery he's ever seen.

You know, Mulder, I don't even know
how I entertained the thought.

People don't live for ever.

No, no. I think he would have.

I just think that death only looks for you...

Once you seek its opposite.

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