The X-Files (1993–…): Season 6, Episode 15 - Arcadia - full transcript

Welcome to The Falls.
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Welcome to The Falls.
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Welcome to The...

Welcome home, Mr. Kline.

Oops. Did you get some on you, Dave?

Didn't want you to get fined.
Just trying to be neighborly.

Got to be up to code.

Shroeder's out there painting our mailbox!

You know what I'm going to do?
I'm going to paint the whole damn house pink.

- Dave.
- Forget about the mailbox, huh?

I'm going to make this whole damn place
look like you won it selling cosmetics.



How about that?
That'll show these Nazis.

Honey, would you just calm down.
Rules are rules.

They're repainting our mailbox because it's
"Desert Sienna" instead of "Desert Sage".

- I mean, this guy is a freakin' weirdo.
- Hon... what's that package?

I don't know.
It doesn't say who sent it.

Tasteful.

Boy, the neighbors would really hate that.

Honey... What is it?

Stay here.

Dave?
Honey?!

SEVEN MONTHS LATER

Take a look at this.

Honey, what do you think?
Is this place us or what?

You must be the Petries.
Hi. Welcome. Welcome to The Falls.



I'm Rob...

- ...and this is my lovely wife, Laura.
- Rob and Laura Petrie.

We pronounce it "Pee-trie," actually.

Like the dish.

Well, it's so nice to meet you.
I'm Pat Verlander. I live six doors down.

- I'm the neighborhood welcome wagon.
- Pleased to make your acquaintance, Pat.

I really must say, it's already ten after 5:00.
I don't think you're going to make it.

- I'm sorry?
- The 6 o'clock cutoff?

All move-ins are required
to be completed by 6 PM.

It's in the CC&Rs.
It's one of our rules.

- The photos did not do it justice.
- Guys, fast, fast now. Come on.

- The previous owners left it so clean.
- What do you do for a living Mr... Petrie?

- That's right, isn't it?
- Yeah, I, uh...

I work mostly at home which is great for
Laura because she gets me all to herself.

This place really is
immaculate, Pat. I, uh,...

...I wouldn't mind sending a thank-you
note to the previous owners.

Th-that's sweet.
Um... Good.

Okay, move it, people.
Come on.

- Rob and Laura Petrie.
- Yes. - "Pee-trie."

Win Shroeder, next-door neighbor.
Welcome, welcome.

Hi, Win.
Nice to meet you.

Now, don't you folks worry.
We'll have you moved in before 6:00.

- Time?!
- 5:19.

Uh... pardon me, neighbor.

Thanks.
Oh, thank you.

Thanks. Thank you.

Thank you.

Excuse me!

- I'll get that. It's okay.
- No. No, don't be silly. It's heavy. I got it.

- Oh, no. I'm... I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry.
- Mike. Mike, Mike, Mike, it's okay.

- It's okay, Mike. Go help Gordy.
- Send me any bills. I'm... I'm sorry.

I'm Cami Shroeder, by the way.
Win's wife.

Nice to meet you.
I'm Laura.

- Where's this go?
- Uh, you can put that in the driveway.

Whoa, whoa! Hold on, hold on.
Let's... let's talk. Um...

A b-ball fan, huh? Shooting hoops...
That's, um, that's not good.

That's definitely going to stand
out in your front yard over there.

- Stand out, Win?
- Well, as in, uh... not be aesthetically pleasing...

...to the eye.

But, hey, you know, maybe you can get
special dispensation from Mr. Gogolak,...

...president of our Homeowner's Association.
I'd take it up with him.

But in the meantime, um...
let's keep that in the garage.

- Just... put it in the garage.
- Okay.

Let's finish getting you folks moved in.
Let's go, people. Let's move! Move!

Oh, yeah. Nothing weird
going on around here.

Hey... ooh, wait a minute. You didn't
let me carry you over the threshold.

- You ready?
- Let's get it on, honey.

All right, then.

Thanks to our friendly neighbors there
will be no fluorescein bloodstain enhancement.

Not that it makes much difference. This place
is so clean you could build computer chips.

Okay.

6:01 p.m., February 24.

Agents Scully and Mulder in the former
home of David and Nancy Kline...

...who disappeared without a trace last July.
The Klines were the third...

...such couple to disappear since
this neighborhood was built in 1991.

All were apparently stable professional people...

...with no history of violence,
domestic discord or mental illness...

...and it took a family member or employee
to realize that they were gone...

...including their cars and a few personal items.

What local police found in
each case was nothing...

Just impeccably-manicured homes and...

...a community of neighbors who professed
total ignorance that anyone had disappeared.

That's pretty surprising considering how
nutty this bunch is about being neighborly.

The local police department were at a
dead end so they turned to the FBI.

AD Skinner, in assigning us this case,
thought a fruitful approach...

...to the investigation would be if we went
undercover posing as prospective home buyers...

...as this planned community
would seem to hide a dark,...

...possibly murderous conspiracy of silence.

You want to make
that honeymoon video now?

- Rob and Laura Petrie?
- "Pee-trie".

Mulder, if we ever go undercover again
I get to choose the names, okay?

Fine.

- This tells me that you're not taking this seriously.
- I'm taking it seriously.

I just don't understand why we're on it.

It's our first catch back on the X-Files.
This isn't an X-File.

Sure it is. It's unexplained.
What do you want, aliens? Tractor beams?

Admit it, you just want to play house.

Woman, get back in here
and make me a sandwich!

Did I not make myself clear?

Hi. Well, you didn't need to do that.

Oh, please.
I have more dishes than I need.

I just usually use one and then... wash it.

Uh...

- I'm... uh, Mike Raskub, by the way.
- Hi.

Big Mike, for obvious reasons.
I just live the next street over.

That's a caduceus.
Are you a doctor, Mike?

No, a vet. Veterinarian.

If you folks are thinking about
getting a dog or any pet...

...I'd be happy to check it
out for you, no charge.

Just, uh... you're not allowed to have over 16
pounds of pet. That's one of the CC&Rs.

Mighty nice of you, Mike. I, uh... gosh,
with all this hospitality,...

...I can't believe the Klines ever left.

That, uh... that was their name, wasn't it?
The, uh, the Klines?

I have to go.

Mulder...

The name... is Rob.

What you got there?

Looks like whoever cleaned
this place maybe missed a spot.

That look like blood to you?

How'd it get way up there?

I, uh... didn't really learn
much about them.

He just said he works at home,
which tells me she's got money.

- Well... seemed nice. Cute couple.
- Mmm, very cute. Uh, they're a nice couple.

What do you think, Gene?

Ladies, my compliments to the chef.

Cami? Sissy?

These Petries, are they going to play ball?

"Pee-tries."
Uh, so far, so good.

I'm keeping my eye on them.

Um... Mr. Gogolak...

Don't you think that, uh... maybe this
time it would be better if we told them?

Mike... you and I have
been through this before.

- We... we don't know yet if we can trust them.
- It's just that...

There are so many... so many rules.

I think that maybe they would be able
to keep up with them better...

...if they knew what happened if they don't.

It's the neighborly thing to do.

I really think we should do this.

Son... Godspeed.

Thank you.

- Um... can I, uh, use your...?
- Second door to the left.

There's Glade under the sink.

Gordy, how about you go make sure he finds it.

- Gene? I can talk him out of this.
- Win.

The boy's a weak link and a strong
chain can't survive with a weak link.

...is instinctive and necessary for survival.

Failure to conform within the tribal
structure can often prove lethal.

When group elders suspect such
an outcast within their midst...

...tribal members gather in a
circle to perform a ritual chant...

...in the belief that this will
expose the unwitting conduit of evil.

The chanters eventually settle on
the so-called misfit and he or she...

Oh, no.

No...

No, I fixed it!
I fixed it!

Morning.

Oh! Oh, Rob, Laura.
I'm so sorry.

So, good morning.

So how was your first night?
Peaceful?

Oh, it was wonderful. We just spooned up
and fell asleep like little baby cats.

- Isn't that right, Honeybunch?
- That's right, Poopyhead.

Win, are we in the right place?
I thought this was Big Mike's house.

Yeah... Yeah. I'm just helping out.
Mike had to leave town on business.

What kind of business?
I thought he was a veterinarian.

Veterinarian business, I guess.
I just know he's gone weeks at a time.

- I'll just leave this here then.
- Let me take those.

Just... tidier-looking than
leaving them on the front porch.

- Be more aesthetically pleasing, huh?
- Exactly.

Say, would you two like to join
Cami and me for dinner this evening?

- About 6:00? We eat early.
- That sounds great. Thanks.

Great.

Oh, Win, uh, you mentioned, uh...

...that I could talk to someone about
putting up my basketball hoop?

Who was that again?
Mr. Gogolak, was it?

All right, then, let's see. Basketball
hoop and backboard. Portable.

Nope, I'm sorry.
It's not allowed.

- You're kidding?
- I'm afraid not. Rules are rules.

It may not sound like anything,
a simple basketball hoop,...

...but from there, it's just a few short
steps to spinning daisy reflectors...

- ...and a bass boat in the driveway.
- In other words, anarchy.

It may sound tough but ours
is a system that works.

That's why The Falls is one of the top-ranked
planned communities in all of California.

Most of our homeowners have
been here since day one.

I love the decor here, Mr. Gogolak.
Is it, um... Occidental?

Well, it's, uh, Nepalese and Tibetan, mostly.
I go there twice a year on business.

I run Pier 9 Imports.

I can get you a great deal on rattan
furniture if you're interested.

Indoor only. Outdoor use is
prohibited by our... CC&Rs.

SCROEDER RESIDENCE
6:37 PM

Uh-uh, Scruffy.
Go on, now.

Sweetheart? Did you use the
dolphin-safe tuna this time?

Dolphin-safe all the way, Honey.

- We always use the dolphin-safe.
- You've got to love those dolphins...

...although they're pretty tasty, too.

So... Where'd you two meet?

- Actually, it was at a UFO conference.
- Flying saucers? Interesting.

Wouldn't have thought you
folks would have been into that.

Well, it's not me so much as Laura.
She's quite the New-Ager.

I mean, she's into those magnetic bracelets
and crystals and mood rings, what have you.

I mean, God bless her she's
a sucker for all that stuff.

Well, I wouldn't have
guessed that, would you?

- No kidding.
- Yeah.

You know, Win, uh, when you, uh...

...when you told me this morning that
Big Mike was out of town on business...

I don't think that's true.

You don't?

- No, 'cause we called his office, didn't we, Honey?
- We did. - Yeah.

We're thinking about getting a dog...

...so we wanted to call him and ask
him his advice, whatever, and...

...see if maybe his office had a forwarding
number and they said, you know...

- That he wasn't there. They didn't know where he was.
- Yeah.

Do you know where he is, Win?

Really couldn't tell you.

It's got to be something really freaky-deaky, hunh?
I mean, for him to lie about it like that?

Maybe he's got some wild secret life going on.

But every community has its dark
underbelly don't you think?

We don't have any underbelly.

As far as I'm concerned this
community is the American Dream.

Um... I'm sorry.

I, um... realize that it's
past time that I walk Scruffy.

- Would you like some company?
- Yeah.

So is this the American dream?

This place?

Oh, uh...

Nice neighborhood, you know... just a lot of
people who want the best for their families.

So it's just not your dream.

You know, Cami, I-I've
noticed that you've, uh,...

...walked us past Mike's house... twice.
Are you worried about him?

No... I don't really know what you mean.

Scruffy!
Scruffy, come here!

Scruffy, no!

Scruffy!

Scruffy, come out here!
Scruffy!

Scruffy, come out of there.

Let me take a look.

Do you see him?

Scruffy, Scruffy, it's okay, it's okay.
I got you. I got you. Oh...

- What you got there?
- Deep breath.

That's a close one, huh? Yeah?

Let me wipe that off.
That's a good boy.

Okay, let's get you home.

Come on.

- All right, Lieutenant.
- Here. Caduceus.

Thank you.

Local PD came up blank on...

Mike Raskub.

No activity on his credit cards.
No sighting of his '97 Mercury Villager.

Yeah, there's no sign of him in his house.

I didn't see him in the storm drain, either.

I take it he's dead, Scully.

Laura.

Win Shroeder?

Mmm, maybe Win cleaning up.

Cleaning up for who?

- I don't know.
- Mulder, speaking of cleaning up,...

...whoever taught you how to
squeeze a tube of toothpaste?

Hey, what do we know about this stuff?

I'm driving down to San Diego
tomorrow and have it analyzed.

- All right.
- Third warning. Toilet seat.

Why kill Big Mike?

What's missing here is intent.
What would be the motive?

Compulsive neatness, or a lack thereof.

Have you noticed how everybody
around here is...

...is obsessed with the neighborhood
rules and the CC&Rs?

You know what?
You fit in really well here.

And you don't.

Well, anyway, tomorrow I got a, uh, a
surefire way of testing out my theory.

Come on, Laura, you know...

We're married now.

Scully, Mulder.
Good night.

The thrill is gone.

Bring it on.

"Be like the others... before it gets dark."

- Stay here.
- Stop him, Win.

- Stay here!
- Stop him!

Hey, Win.
Want to play "horse"?

- What the hell are you doing?
- What am *I* doing?

- What are *you* doing?
- Damn it, Rob, get off of it!

- Help me get this thing inside.
- Why? What's going to happen if we don't?

Fine. That's the way you want it?

- You were warned.
- Warned about what?

No! No!

Please!

Stop!

Cami... you all right?

Mulder?

Mulder, is that you?

Sorry, Mulder.

Somebody was in the house.

Tidying up. Whoever it was,
they put away my basketball hoop.

Somebody's looking out after us, Scully,
which may not be a bad thing.

- What do you mean?
- I got a look at that thing that's been scaring...

...everybody and I take it back.
This is an X-File.

How's Cami?

What did we do wrong, Gene?

Was our welcome mat not to your liking?

Did I coil my garden hose clockwise
instead of counterclockwise?

Hold the phone, now.

- Are you saying that I had something to do with this?
- Who else?

The exact same thing, the thing you had me
do to Mike. Who else would do that?

Son, you'll want to take a deep breath...

...and rethink that theory.

It's your next-door neighbor, Win.

He's a rabble-rouser.
He's trouble with a capital "T."

And you and I both know it only
takes one rotten apple...

...to spoil the whole bunch.

Here we go.

Yeah... I'm guessing there's
one of these in every yard.

I think this is how this
thing travels... where it lives.

In the ground.

This huge creature you think you saw?

Look, Mulder, huge creatures aside
do you care to hear what I think?

Always.

These are the lab results
from the San Diego PD.

First of all, the stuff that we found on the fan
blade, the dried blood and scalp hairs?

It's neither. The blood is predominantly
ketchup and brake fluid...

...and the hairs are bristles from a scrub brush...

...and the same goes for the sample
we found on the dog's muzzle.

It's coffee grounds, eggshells and motor
oil with about 50 other constituents...

...with a little mercurochrome for color.
In other words, Mulder, it's garbage.

Which makes perfect sense because this entire
neighborhood has been built upon an old landfill.

A landfill?

We found this stuff everywhere because it is
everywhere. It's just beneath the topsoil...

...and that protrusion in the front yard may
occur from the venting of methane gas...

But... Mulder, I don't see how any of this has to do
with the disappearances that we're investigating.

- It does. Somehow, it's one and the same. The Klines?
- Yeah?

What if they're still here.

You mean buried in the yard?

Well, once we start a forensic
excavation, our cover's blown.

What in God's name are you doing?!

- God...!
- Putting in a pool.

In the front yard?!
Wh-wh-what are you, insane?

Have you even looked at the CC&Rs?
You-you can't just put in a swimming pool!

It's not a swimming pool.
It's a reflecting pool.

I checked the rules.

There's no rule against putting
in a reflecting pool.

It's very tranquil.
You'd like it.

Let him dig his own grave.

Hey.

Mulder.

The Klines aren't down there.

Maybe it's time you called it a night.

Tasteful, isn't it?

Gogolak.

- Hey, can you get an excavation team out here?
- Yeah. - We need to dig deeper.

- Where are you going?
- To price some rattan furniture.

Yes, this is Special Agent Dana Scully.
I need a full forensic team to 450 Autumn Terrace.

No, not tomorrow. Tonight.

I'm sorry.
Can I call you back?

Jeez.

Oh, God.

It's come for you, Laura.
You can't make a noise.

Mike.

- What happened to you?
- You have to get out of here.

Why?

Wait a minute, who's downstairs?
Mike...

- Who did this to you?
- The ubermenscher. It's our fault.

The original homeowners, we asked
for it and now we can't stop it.

Stop what, Mike?

I tried to give it Shroeder. You know,
tit-for-tat. Just like Shroeder did for me.

Mike, listen, settle down. Okay.
Just give me my gun. I'm a federal agent...

The ubermenscher wants you, Laura.
Your husband, he's broken way too many rules.

I've been hiding in the sewer.
I tried to warn him.

Mike, just give me the gun. Give me...

FBI? What did I do?

Let's start with the Klines.

You're responsible for them being
in little pieces in my front yard.

You gave them that lawn ornament.
The guy with the axe?

- Whirligig.
- Yeah, whirligig.

It's tacky enough to break your rules and your
CCRs, tacky enough to mark the Klines for death.

And won't that sound good in a court of law?

When the judge asks you who killed the Klines
what exactly are you going to tell him?

A tulpa.

It's a Tibetan thought-form.

It's a living, breathing creature willed into existence
by someone who possesses that ability...

An ability I think you picked up on your
whirligig-buying excursions to the Far East.

Why'd you do it? I mean, is it so damn important
for everybody to have the same color mailbox?

It's important that people fit in.

But you didn't know exactly what
you were getting into, did you?

I mean, you can summon its existence, but... you
can give it life, but you can't control it.

- The best you can hope for is to stay out of its way.
- Son, my lawyers are going to...

...make you sound so stupid that not only will
I never see the inside of a jail cell...

...but you'll be signing all your
paychecks straight to me.

Gene?

Win.

You've got two FBI agents
living next door to you.

Cheer up.
It's not for long.

Scully?

Scully?

Scully?

Mulder?

- Scully?
- Mulder?

Scully, hang on.

Come here.
Help me with this.

Win, come here.

Win...!

Win, wait a minute.
No. No.

He deserves what he gets.

Mulder, it was here.

Mulder!

Several residents of The Falls have now
come forward to blame the deaths...

...in the neighborhood on Home Owner
Association President Gene Gogolak.

These same residents deny Agent Mulder's
allegation that they were...

...in some sense all responsible for
the demise of Gogolak himself...

...claiming ignorance as to
what actually killed him.

It would seem the code of silence that
hid the sins of this community...

...has not only survived but, in its creator,
claimed a final victim.

Meanwhile, The Falls at Arcadia
has been named one of...

...the top planned communities in
California for the sixth year running.