Hospital Scene, Triangle

Mulder is lying on his side in a hospital bed, unconscious. Scully leans over him.

Scully: Mulder? Mulder, it's me. Hmm?
Mulder: (waking) Where am I? (tries to sit up)
Scully: You're in a hospital.
Mulder: Ooooo.
Scully: Lie still.
Mulder: I feel... Like hell. < Snort> This was priceless. I loved DD's timing.
Scully: I don't blame you. You've been through the wringer, I'd say.
Mulder: What happened to me?
Scully: You did something incredibly stupid.
Mulder: What did I do?
Scully: You went looking for a ship, Mulder. In the Bermuda Triangle.
Mulder: Say that again?

(Gunmen enter the room.)

Frohike: Gilligan awakes.
Mulder: You were there.
Scully: Hmm?
Mulder: You were there, Scully.

(Skinner enters.)

Langly: (to the others) He's delirious.
Mulder: (referring to Skinner) And he was there, too.
Skinner: (dropping a bouquet of flowers on the nightstand) Right-- Me and my dog Toto.
Mulder: No, you were there with the Nazis.
Scully: Mulder, will you settle down? It's an order.
Skinner: Not that he takes orders...

(Mulder rests the back of his hand against Scully's waist which is against his bed rail. He is happy, yet very drugged.)

Mulder: You saved the world, Scully.
Scully: Yeah... You're right. I did.
Frohike: What kind of drugs is he on?
Langly: I want some.
Mulder: No, no, no.... The Queen Anne-- I found it. You were there with Thor's Hammer. I told you you had to turn the ship around and then I jumped overboard.
Scully: Yeah, I bet you did. The boat that you were on was busted into a million pieces. And as for the Queen Anne it was nothing more than a ghost ship.
Mulder: No, no, no.You and I were on that ship, Scully. In 1939.
Skinner: Get some rest, Mulder 'cause when you get out of here I'm going to kick your butt but good.

(Skinner and the Gunmen leave the room.)

Mulder: I would've never seen you again. But you believed me.
Scully: In your dreams. (as if talking to a child) Mulder, I want you to close your eyes and I want you to think to yourself "there's no place like home."
Mulder: Mmm. ( chuckles )

(Scully starts to leave. He calls her back.)

Mulder: Hey, Scully. (leans up on his elbow)

(Scully comes back and leans close to his face.)

Scully: Yes? (Boy this low rumbly whisper caused my SWILSy knees to buckle.)

(Long pause. They look deeply at one another. And what a look it is!)

Mulder: I love you.
Scully: Oh, brother... (turns away and leaves the room)

(Mulder, perhaps a little hurt, watches her go. He starts to lie down, but as soon as his face touches the pillow he pulls back up in slight pain and rubs his jaw where 1939 Scully hit him. He gazes after her and smiles. Screen shifts over to credits.)

Dreamland II

CITD: Conversation in the Desert, Dreamlands II

Night. Desert. Scully and Morris pull up beside Mulder's car. Scully gets out and joins Mulder about twenty feet away. Morris stays in the car.

Mulder as Morris: You don't look too happy. Don't tell me I'm going to have to put two kids through school.
Scully: (hesitantly) That is you in there, Mulder, isn't it? (He nods. She hugs herself.) I, uh... I just got off the phone with Frohike. They were able to download and analyze the crash data and, yes, there was an anomalous event that night.
Mulder as Morris: And how do I get back?
Scully: (not easy for her to say) Well, that's just it. It's all about random moments in time... About a series of variables approaching an event horizon. And even if we... could recreate that moment if we could sabotage another craft... Mulder, if we were... If we were off... If the event were off by even one millisecond...
Mulder as Morris: I might wind up with my head in a rock.
Scully: Something like that, yeah. (Long pause.)
Mulder as Morris: (depressed) What about him? I mean, me. Whatever. Whoever he is.
Scully: Agent Mulder has become AD Kersh's new golden boy. He's been tasked with returning the flight data recorder that he and I stole.The son of a bitch confesses to Kersh even more than I do to my priest. I'm just tagging along for the ride.
Mulder as Morris: What do you mean, "just tagging along"?
Scully: I'm out of the Bureau. I've been censured and relieved of my position.
Mulder as Morris: No.You can explain it to them like you explained it to me. You have the data. You can make them understand. You can get your job back.

Scully looks at him with affection. His response was completely different from Morris' fake sympathy when she told him.)

Scully: I'd kiss you if you weren't so damn ugly. THUD!

(Mulder smiles at her and nods. Morris honks the horn at them.)

Morris as Mulder: (yelling out the window) Take a picture-- it'll last longer.

(Mulder and Scully pause a moment as they look over at the car.)

Mulder as Morris: (through clenched teeth) If I... shoot him is that murder or suicide?
Scully: Neither, if I do it first.

(Scully squeezes his arm in farewell, then walks toward the car. Mulder stops her.)

Mulder as Morris: Hey, Scully...

(Mulder holds out his closed hand to her. She holds out her palm. He pours a handful of sunflower seeds into her hand, then takes one back and puts it in his mouth. They look at each other. Mulder sadly watches as Scully gets in the car and it drives away.)

Tithonus

CBR&S: Confrontation between Ritter and Scully, Tithonus

Morning. Precinct station. Agent Ritter angrily runs up to Scully who is processing the Hooker Hassler.

Agent Ritter: Dana, what the hell is going on?
Scully: Assault and possession of an unregistered handgun. I'll be with you in a minute.
Agent Ritter: Why didn't you call me sooner?
Scully: I apologize.
Agent Ritter: What, you blew off the surveillance? (Scully keeps her mouth tightly closed and leads him into a private room.)
Scully: No offense, but the surveillance was blown before I got there.
Agent Ritter: So, wait, wait-- you blew off the surveillance and what, took a little joyride with him?
Scully: I confronted Fellig. I questioned him further about his involvement in the deaths that he photographed. Is that okay with you?
Agent Ritter: What did he say?
Scully: He said that he can tell when people are about to die. Look, if New York passes a Good Samaritan law we might be able to nail him on that but other than that, I doubt we're going to get him for murder.
Agent Ritter: Wrong. Let me show you something. (He leaves the room. She hesitates a moment then follows him.) They picked up Mr. Wiggins last night. Now, he says that it was Fellig who killed that kid in the alley, not him. He said he just happened along and he had to fight for his life.
Scully: A convicted murderer half Fellig's age.
Agent Ritter: He said he would have come in on his own but he said he was afraid we wouldn't have believed him.
Scully: He's right. Tell me, Ritter, did he have any help concocting that story?
Agent Ritter: Look, Fellig is a murderer. Whether or not he did this specific one, I don't care-- not if it buys me a few days in the box with him.
Scully: No judge is going to issue a warrant based on this.
Agent Ritter: No, no, no. I know the judge. We'll have it by noon. (Scully stares at him, then turns away.) You know, Kersh warned me about you.
Scully: Uh, he did?
Agent Ritter: Yeah-- you and your partner. God knows his reputation precedes him so I guess I should have seen this coming. You muck up my case, and Kersh'll hear about it. Are we clear, Dana?
Scully: (coldly correcting him) Scully. (Her cell phone rings.) And we're done with this conversation. (Agent Ritter leaves. Scully answers her phone.)

Comments: I love when Scully gets testy. Just who does this agent Ritter think he is? In many ways he reminds the viewer of season one Scully, green and so very earnest; except he's not as committed to doing the right thing as she was (is). Previous to this he chides Dana for finding an excuse to let Fellig off the hook. Here, he's clutching at straws to force a conviction on a man that HE has judged guilty. Scully trys to remain non-combative, but Ritter just has to threaten her. Hackles up, she coolly puts him in his place.

SFD: Scully, Fellig and Death

Start of Act IV. Scully is in Fellig's apartment. He has just seen her in Black and White, which means she's about to die.

Scully: 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. (Fellig is loading his camera.)
Fellig: It has nothing to do with science. Someone took my place.
Scully: Took your place?
Fellig: 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-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. And I saw him-- saw Death. Wish I had a camera then. At first, I... just saw him out of the corner of my eye. Then he got bolder and he started flitting around the room and he'd take this person and 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-- they still can't-- but she did the best she could. She sat with me, held my hand and I was on my deathbed and he came for me. I didn't look at him. I 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 realized you got to be careful what you wish for. I missed my chance. You're very lucky, you know that?
Scully: What do you mean? (no answer) Wait a minute. Say what's on your mind. You mean lucky like the others? You want me to believe that I'm about to die?
Fellig: I just want to take the picture.
Scully: You took my picture. You took my picture last night. Is this why?
Fellig: No, that was different.
Scully: I'm not going to die! (he turns on the camera) Turn that off.
Fellig: No. (They struggle with the camera.)
Scully: Turn it off right now! Put it down!
Fellig: There is nothing to be done for it. (She handcuffs him to the table, then frantically searches her pockets for her missing phone.)
Scully: You took my phone. Why?
Fellig: Please, just give me a chance.
Scully: What don't you want me to know?
Fellig: He's coming.
Scully: What don't you want me to know!?
Fellig: He's coming and you should just make your peace.
Scully: Shut up! (The front door crashes open.)
Fellig: He's here.

(Scully shields her eyes as in slow motion the darkroom blanket is lifted and a figure steps in, gun raised. Fellig raises his camera. The gun fires, shattering the camera lens and going on through Fellig who falls to the floor. Scully stares straight ahead in shock at Agent Ritter who is still holding the gun.)

Agent Ritter: Agent? (He sees the bullet wound in her stomach and runs to her as she slides to the floor. Almost crying.) Oh, god. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... (dialing his phone with shaking hands) Come on... Come on... Dammit! (Agent Ritter runs out and yells down the hall leaving Fellig and Scully alone.) We need some help in here!

(Fellig takes off the shattered camera and picks up a smaller camera and gets ready to take a picture of Scully as she dies. He looks at her through the lens for a moment, then puts down the camera and takes her hand. Blood is now trickling from her mouth.)

Fellig: Do you see him? Do you see him? Don't look. Close your eyes.

(Scully's eyes slowly drift close. He looks down at their clasped hands. His arm slowly fades into black and white. He looks up in awe at the bright light and everything fades away.)

Present Day Ball Park Scene, The Unnatural

(Night. Mulder is at a baseball field hitting balls fired from a pitching machine. He is wearing a baseball jersey - Gibson, #20, the Grays. Scully walks around the fence and watches him.)

Scully: So, uh... I get this message marked "urgent" on my answering service from one Fox Mantle telling me to come down to the park for a very special very early or very late birthday present. And, Mulder... I don't see any nicely wrapped presents lying around so, what gives?
Mulder: You've never hit a baseball, have you, Scully?
Scully: No, I guess I have, uh... found more necessary things to do with my time than ... (a foul ball hits the fence) slap a piece of horsehide with a stick.
Mulder: Get over here, Scully.

(Mulder holds the bat out for her. Scully walks over and takes it. Mulder steps behind her and wraps his arms around her tightly, also holding the bat around her hands.)

Scully: (warily, not thrilled) This my birthday present, Mulder? You shouldn't have.
Mulder: This ain't cheap. I'm paying that kid ten bucks an hour to shag balls.

(Camera shows Poorboy smiling and standing beside the batting machine.)

Mulder: Hey, it's not a bad piece of ash, huh? (Scully gives him a "Look.") The bat-talking about the bat. Now, don't strangle it. You just want to shake hands with it. "Hello, Mr. Bat. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." "Oh, no, no, Ms. Scully. The pleasure's all mine." ( Scully laughs as their hands grip the bat.) Okay, now, we want to... we want to go hips before hands, okay? (holds his hand a few inches from her hip) We want to stride forward and turn. That's all we're thinking about. So, we go hips... before hands, all right? (He gingerly touches her hip and with his hands and his own hips pressed against her, turns her the right way.)
Scully: Okay.
Mulder: One more time. (He touches and turns her hips more confidently.) Hips... before hands, all right?
Scully: Yeah.
Mulder: What is it?
Scully: Hips before hands.
Mulder: (speaking right into her ear) Right. We're going to wait on the pitch. We're going to keep our eye on the ball. Then, we're just going to make contact. We're not going to think. We're just going to let it fly, Scully, okay?
Scully: Mm-hmm.
Mulder: Ready? (Mulder tries to readjust their grips on the bat. Momentary hand struggle between them.)
Scully: I'm in the middle. (He gets her hands back between his. They are both grinning.)
Mulder: All right, fire away, Poorboy. (A ball comes to them and they hit it. It goes way foul.) Ooh! That's good. All right, what you may find is you concentrate on hitting that little ball... The rest of the world just fades away-- all your everyday, nagging concerns. ( Scully giggles. They hit the ball again.) The ticking of your biological clock. (Another hit.) How you probably couldn't afford that nice, new suede coat on a G-Woman's salary. (Another hit.) How you threw away a promising career in medicine... (intimately into her ear) to hunt aliens with a crackpot, albeit brilliant, partner. (He gets another "Look.") Getting into the heart of a global conspiracy. Your obscenely overdue triple-X bill. Oh, I... I'm sorry, Scully. Those last two problems are mine, not yours. (Another hit.)
Scully: (with a big smile) Shut up, Mulder. I'm playing baseball.

(They continue to hit the balls. Scully laughs. As the balls fly up into the black, star-studded night sky, we see them turn into shooting stars. )

Comments: Wow, what a nice little vignette. DD wrote and directed this episode, and dispite his protestations, he shows us here that he actually likes the characters. This scene and the opening of Act 1 both illustrate how at ease the two agents are with one another, in contrast to earlier this season. They aren't on the clock and they do spend time together. Scully might want to be outside enjoying the sunshine, but she's down in the basement because he asked her. Mulder calls her to meet him at the ballpark because he wants to give her a late birthday present. Scully's amused; but she's shows up, obviously curious as to what her partner is going to give her at a baseball field. The message that Dales was trying to impart in his story to Mulder was the joy of baseball. Mulder gets that, and now he wants to share that love of the game with Scully. It doesn't hurt that he gets to wrap his body entirely around hers. I feel warm and fuzzy and I don't even like the national pasttime. Oh, and the song by Jessie L Martin doesn't hurt either.